Our Story
The Friesen Story
Starting from a single 20-foot-wide general store on Main Street in Altona, Manitoba, selling groceries, pencils and other items necessary to rural life in 1907, Friesens has grown to encompass four divisions (Book, Yearbook, History Book, and Packaging) employing over 600 people across North America.
We continue to embody founder D.W. Friesen’s motto “If our customers are successful, so will we be.” This has shaped our approach to customer service, our commitment to investing in our company, and the way we support our team and local communities.
From One Man to 600+
When Friesens opened on October 1, 1907, it was a one-man operation, but it led to a second-generation opportunity for a trio of brothers with ambitions in wholesaling, newspaper publishing, packaging, and commercial printing. In the decades ahead, Friesens would transition from a family firm to one of the largest employee-owned companies in Canada.
The Friesen family always felt that if everyone owned a part of the company, the people who worked in it would treat it like their own; if individual employees did well so would they. They wanted the company to be owned by the people that worked in the business…that included family, but it also included hundreds of others.
Today there are many employee-owner Friesens in the business, though not one from the original family!
Commitment to service, quality and innovation
Since day one, our processes have changed, our people have changed, and even our customers have changed.
What has not changed are our values, our commitment to service, quality and innovation. These values have always been at the forefront as we continue to grow and expand our business.
D.W. Friesen’s first location, date unknown
D.J. Harder, first linotype operator (and first non-Friesen employee), circa 1933
Peter Wolfe, hand setting type from wooden type cases, circa 1938
Dieter Nietsche operating the brand-new Heidelberg letterpress, 1960
Friesens Shipping Department with Alfred Loewen, 1970
Altona Echo office, 1950s
Anton Kehler delivering school supplies to Steinbach, Manitoba, 1955
Sewn binding machine, 1964
Linotype Operators Gordon Stobbe and Jack Baxted, 1953
Bailer Room Employees, date unknown
Printing of The Patriation of the Constitution of Canada: A Pictoral Record, 1983
Friesens Packaging Department, 1972
R.C. Friesen and A.A. Teichroeb, Friesens Wholesale Division Warehouse, 1955
Friesens Bookstore, date unknown
D.W. Friesens & Sons / Altona Echo office, early 1950s
Typesetting Department, 1961
Don Penner operating the cutter, 1964
Friesens lobby, 1985
Friesens Bindery, 1975
Yearbook kit, late 1960s
Doc Friesen operating the first Offset press – a Davidson ATF, 1959
Hand-pasting lettering for signage, 1972
Ben Neufeld operating the No. 1 Miehle Press, 1961
Offset Pressmen Paul Friesen, Henry Kehler, Jerry Rempel, Dick Janzen and Rod Stoesz, 1967
Head Office and bookstore, 1960
