Our Story
Over 50 years ago, the Blackbourn family began manufacturing thermformed parts and creating packaging. By the 1970’s, the business was sold to a Minneapolis based family and they continued to manfacture.
During this time came the development of VHS magnetic tapes which brought movies from the big screen direct to the consumers’ homes, and this led to widespread VHS consumer adoption in the late 1970s and the birth of the Video store. Blackbourn, Inc. became the #1 supplier of video cassette packaging for all the Walt Disney movies on VHS. At relatively the same time, the development of cassette tapes made widespread consumer adoption, and Blackbourn began to also produce audio cassette packaging.
The early computer borrowed ideas from the entertainment industries to see if business applications could be developed based on recording technologies. The storage was on magnetic tape floppy drives. Then in 1982 the first Optical Discs were launched into the market. Optical Discs (Compact Discs) innovated media storage, and it was a new technology. With widespread consumer adoption of desk top computers and CD Music players and improved Video Game applications, compact disc packaging became a great extension to our already-growing media packaging line.
CD’s ended the domination of the vinyl LP and competing audio magnetic tape mediums. People were bringing their work and studies home, and the consumer needed and demanded to move their media data from place to place. One of Blackbourn’s top sellers for this market demand has been our CD Ctray collection. Choosing from 2-24 CD storage. Versatile. Convenient.
During this time, industry professionals dubbed Blackbourn the “Cadillac of Packaging”!
During 1993 two significant events happened: 1) The DVD, a next generation CD product, was launched and 2) Blackbourn, Inc. was bought by a family firm in Southwest Minnesota. With the move from the Minneapolis area and under new management, Blackbourn Media Packaging (as it was renamed) continued its quest to be the best packager in the country!
In late 1990s and early 2000s, Blackbourn began to develop and produce other types of packaging beyond the media market, introducing clamshells, blister cards, and custom thermoforming to its line up of products and later going through another name change using its industry-recognized name, Blackbourn.
Blackbourn truly lives by their tagline “When it comes to packaging, we’ve got you covered.®”
Blackbourn is located in Midwestern America, in southwest Minnesota. Being in a central location within the country is perfect when serving customers nationwide.
For more than 50 years, we're here for the long run. Through all the years we are still family-owned and operated, with a company-wide commitment to achieving customer satisfaction. Our talented team of professionals includes many individuals who have been with us for 5 or even 15 years! These are dedicated, proven professionals who take pride in the many services and products we provide to customers nationwide.
As a customer, this means that you are working with people who are motivated and believe in what they are doing. The associates of Blackbourn are all people who take pride in what they are doing and take personal responsibility for providing the highest quality products and services to our customers.
Simply stated; our family business was built on a very simple, sound principal. Do a good job taking care of our customers by meeting or exceeding their expectations. Today, that simple principle is still at the core of everything we do.
Blackbourn is proud to be a U.S. based manufacturer, and we continue to be committed to superior service and quality products done right the first time. Over the years, we have demonstrated an understanding of our customers, as well as a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. We appreciate the opportunity to present our ideas and capabilities and look forward to continuing our commitment to quality service and products.