Dallas Pen is turning 60 and will be celebrating this milestone at the Dallas Pen Annual Fall Show at the end of September. The special show is being staged at the Doubletree Hotel on Valley View Lane in Dallas, Texas. The dates of the event are September 28 and 29. An anniversary party will be held immediately after the show hours on Friday evening. The annual golf tournament precedes the show on Thursday, September 27.

President & CEO Pat Melugin said, "The company is 60 years old as of this year and still growing strong. We're excited about the business and are looking forward to the changes ahead of us."

"There's no question that this is a significant milestone for Dallas Pen," said Vice President Bobbie Melugin. "Our people and our customers have given us this grand opportunity and we want to show them our gratitude by sponsoring this special event."

Dallas Pen "Shop" was founded by Lyman Short in 1947 as a retail card shop and fountain pen repair center. Lyman was a traveling salesman for both Sheaffer and Parker Pen for many years. The invention and development of the ballpoint pen led Lyman to more and more writing instruments and fewer cards and fountain pen repairs. In 1955 Lyman hired Ed Melugin as his first outside salesman. Ed called on all commercial accounts and began developing the wholesale side of the business. Soon the wholesale side of the business began to outsell the retail side.

The business was incorporated in 1967 and sold as Dallas Pen Company to Ed Melugin. Ed immediately converted the business to 100 % wholesale and sold to drug stores, office supply stores, college bookstores and specialty shops. He built a 10,000 sq ft. warehouse and relocated. Ed then began to expand the product offering to include more items that could be sold to his existing customers. This meant more office supplies. He also expanded by hiring sales people to cover Texas and Louisiana.

In 1975 Ed brought his son Pat into the business who continued to develop and expand the company. He increased the sales force to 12 and expanded the states covered. In 1986 he began to bring in school supplies. Ed Melugin retired in 1990.

In June 2004 Dallas Pen Company produced its first Big Book of Learning Materials catalog and launched its website. In 2005 additional employees were hired to help produce catalogs and flyers in house. Dallas Pen now publishes 2 Big Books a year, the Little Big Book once a year, Spring New Product Flyer, Fall Seasonal and New Product Flyer and the Inspirational flyer.

Today, Dallas Pen Company occupies a 49,000 sq ft. warehouse with 33,000 inventoried items. There are 6 full time sales people covering Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and Kansas with an additional 8 customer service specialists.