Dixon Ticonderoga

Dixon Ticonderoga is number one in No. 2 pencils. A top US maker of wood-cased graphite pencils (it developed the ubiquitous No. 2 pencil in 1913), the company also makes pencil grips, Dixon markers, Prang art materials, a line of school supplies featuring Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo characters, and general office supplies. In addition, Dixon Ticonderoga offers advertising specialty pencils, crayons, markers, and pens. Customers include major discounters like Wal-Mart, office products superstores (Office Depotand Staples), and supermarkets (Publix). Dixon Ticonderoga's is owned by FILA S.p.A. of Milan, Italy, which acquired the pencil giant in 2005 for about $22.5 million.

While the company's No. 2 pencil is the world's best selling pencil, Dixon Ticonderoga hasn't stopped creating new angles on the product. In late 2009 it debuted the Lyra line of art and design colored pencils, crayons, pastels, and a variety of children's products.

Pencil sales have continued to grow, in spite of many people's reliance on keyboards to do much of their communicating. One help has been the popularity of the Sudoku numbers game, similar to a crossword puzzle, which is best played using a pencil with an eraser. Dixon Ticonderoga has also looked to boost sales by introducing bigger packages, now as large as 48 and 72 pencils per pack.