Top Flight Finally Gets To Celebrate A Century In Business In Chattanooga

Top Flight, the paper products firm on Central Avenue, was set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2020, but COVID put a damper on the festivities.

With COVID easing up some, sales director Mike Robinson said the firm is finally getting to celebrate the long decades in business.

A Robinson was among the founders of the firm, and there are still many Robinsons in management, including a fourth generation.

Here is the company history:

 Top Flight was founded as Atlas Paper Box in 1920 by H.T. Robinson, E.W. Macmillan, and the brothers E.D. and H.T. Bryan. The role Atlas played was to supply paper boxes to the burgeoning hosiery industry in and around their Chattanooga plant. Nashville-based Top Flight Paper Company was purchased by Atlas in 1956. The Top Flight name was made official in 1989 and was synonymous with a devotion to customer service and the craft of converting raw paper into useful and exciting school and office supplies.

Brothers Wig and Monk Robinson assumed second generation control and Top Flight is still owned and operated by the third generation of Robinsons - George, Wejun, Curt and Mike Robinson - as they look back on over 100 years of success. Lowndes Robinson represents the fourth generation. They are still very much committed to strong core values and innovative paper products.

As the 30s and 40s emerged, Top Flight gained greater access into the school supply channel and began to focus on the production of spiral notebooks, filler paper, envelopes and other paper-based school and office supplies. Top Flight also installed automated German converting equipment in 1956 and envelope production, including multi-color commercial mailing envelopes, began in 1958.

 They expanded their footprint into the College Bookstore Channel, producing specialty notebook creations with the schools' logos and marks, helping college students in the US and Canada to show their school pride.

 Their core business remains distribution into retailers across the U.S. and Canada including Kroger, Costco, Publix, Target, Walgreens, Dollar Tree, Barnes & Noble, Safeway-Albertsons and many others.

 Top Flight experienced great success in the 90s, more than doubling its revenue and production capacity, expanding the warehouse facilities and factory to meet their goals. The company also ended the production of paper boxes at this time. In 1991, Top Flight aided in military operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm by supplying writing tablets and envelopes to our military forces overseas.

In the 2000s Top Flight utilizes Asian factories to remain competitive. Domestic high speed automated equipment is utilized as a competitive buffer to imports but the reality of the marketplace causes them to blend their manufactured and imported goods.

As we enter 2022 Top Flight retains a lean employment force of 140 dedicated and skilled workers.  Recent investments of new automated equipment, machine upgrades and new warehouse facilities will keep us modernized and positioned for efficient production. Trend research and consumer surveys are utilized to produce highly stylized products based on marketing research- not whim.

Here’s looking at another 100 years.