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§ Private Profile · One Manhattanville Road, Purchase, New York 10577, US
RH Donnelley is a company.
Key people at RH Donnelley.
RR Donnelley provides comprehensive marketing, packaging, print, and business services, integrating these capabilities to facilitate client communications and supply chain solutions. The company develops and executes strategies encompassing brand and creative development, digital media and martech, direct mail, and omnichannel marketing. Additionally, it offers diverse print services, from marketing collateral to business communications, alongside specialized packaging, labeling, and supply chain management.
The company was founded in 1864 in Chicago by Richard Robert Donnelley. His initial venture into printing laid the groundwork for an organization that would grow with the evolving demands of business communication. Donnelley’s insight centered on the critical need for reliable and high-quality printed materials, which became foundational to the company’s expansion and diversification over more than a century.
RR Donnelley serves many of the world’s most respected brands, including a significant portion of the Fortune 100, supporting their needs across various industries such as finance, retail, and healthcare. The company’s long-term vision focuses on optimizing connections across the entire customer journey, continuously evolving its service portfolio to meet complex client demands for integrated communications and efficient supply chain management.
Key people at RH Donnelley.
R.H. Donnelley (often stylized as RH Donnelley) was a historic printing and publishing company specializing in telephone directories, founded in 1886 as a spin-off from the larger R.R. Donnelley & Sons printing empire.[1][2] It served telecommunications giants like Bell System companies, publishing yellow pages and directories nationwide, later expanding into competitive markets and digital-adjacent printing amid declining print demand.[1][3] The company addressed the need for organized business listings in growing urban areas, powering local advertising and consumer discovery for over a century before evolving into Dex One Corporation and facing bankruptcy in 2012 due to the digital shift away from print directories.[1]
R.H. Donnelley traces its roots to Chicago's printing boom, established in 1886 by Reuben H. Donnelley, son of R.R. Donnelley founder Richard Robert Donnelley, who had started a print shop in 1864 after immigrating from Canada.[1][2][4] Reuben initially contracted with the Chicago Telephone Company to publish directories, expanding to Bell System firms by 1906 and incorporating in New York in 1917.[1] Pivotal moments included surviving the 1871 Chicago Fire (affecting the family firm), national contracts post-1929, acquisition by Dun & Bradstreet in 1961, and aggressive expansions like SBC/AT&T yellow pages in 2004.[1][2][5] Early traction came from telephone growth, humanizing its rise as a family-led innovator in an era when directories were essential "gateways" to local commerce.[1]
R.H. Donnelley rode the telephone directory wave—a pre-internet "tech" trend fueled by urbanization and telecom monopolies, enabling local search when phones connected America's businesses.[1][5] Timing was ideal post-1880s phone adoption, with market forces like Bell's dominance favoring its contracts amid Chicago's printing hub status.[2][4] It influenced ecosystems by standardizing yellow pages advertising, boosting small businesses until online directories (e.g., Google) eroded print by the 2000s; its 2012 Dex One bankruptcy highlighted the shift to digital search, underscoring how analog "tech" paved the way for apps like Yelp.[1]
R.H. Donnelley exemplifies print's obsolescence in the digital era, with no active operations today under its name—its legacy absorbed into R.R. Donnelley & Sons (now RRD), focused on labels, marketing, and logistics across 27 countries.[1][8] Next could see RRD leaning into AI-driven print personalization or supply chain tech, shaped by e-commerce trends and sustainability demands. Its influence evolves from directory dominance to a cautionary tale for tech incumbents, reminding investors that even century-old giants must pivot or perish—much like today's search firms eyeing voice/AI frontiers.[3][8]
