In the mid 1970’s our president Mark Bowland started working with hot stamping foils for decorating cosmetic containers. As VP of operations for a major cosmetic component company he was responsible for all manufacturing and a large part of that was foil decorating. After 17 years of manufacturing it was time for him to move on. In 1988 he was recruited by Ed Sullivan, the owner of West Foils, Inc. With Ed’s experience in foil sales and Mark’s experience in manufacturing they began to increase market share and sales in the wine label and other industries. With over 40 years of combined experience they helped customers choose the correct formulation for their jobs and then supported them with “hands-on” technical assistance. This proved to be a winning combination!
By 1996 Mark had been at West Foils for 8 years when Ed decided to sell his business to a large manufacturer of hot stamping foils. Mark was promoted by that company to be Western Regional Manager and ran the operation until 1999 when he left to pursue other interests.
In early 2002, after much consolidation in the foil manufacturing industry Mark decided to start his own foil distribution business. That decision came to fruition in July of 2002 when he started Great Western Foils, Inc. Our initial offering was 65 products.
In July of 2014 we moved to our 12,000’ Sq.Ft. facility in Simi Valley, CA to give us more room to grow.
In July of 2020 we moved into our brand new 25,000′ Sq.Ft. facility in Sparks, NV. This move has allowed us to increase our inventory levels and add new machinery. We now stock over 550 different products and continue to increase our offerings.