| Type | Privately owned |
|---|---|
| Industry |
Transportation, Relocation services, Logistics, Records Management, Storage, Facilities Management |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Founder(s) | James E. Thompson |
| Headquarters | Global Headquarters Hong Kong American Headquarters Los Angeles, California EMEA Headquarters Prague, Czech Republic |
| Area served | Worldwide over 250 locations, 55 countries |
| Key people | James E. Thompson Founder & Chairman Ken Madrid Chief Financial Officer & CEO Asia-Pacific David Muir CEO Europe Middle East & Africa |
| Employees | over 4,600 (2010) |
| Divisions | Crown Relocations Crown Records Management Crown Logistics Crown Fine Arts Crown Wine Cellars |
| Website | www.crownworldwide.com |
The Crown Worldwide Group, headquartered in Hong Kong, provides transportation, relocation services, logistics and storage services from offices in 55 countries. Services include international and domestic household good shipments, global mobility, departure and destination services, fine arts transportation, wine storage, records management, freight forwarding, third-party distribution and specialized logistics services. It is the world's largest privately-held group of international moving companies.
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The Crown Worldwide Group provides services to over 10,000 corporations, private customers and diplomats worldwide. The Crown Records Management division is the largest private company in the field. In 2009, the Crown Worldwide Group generated approximately US $570 million dollars of revenue and owned assets of US $550 million in value.
Crown operates more than 6,500,000 square feet (600,000 m2) of warehouse space. One of Crown’s principle strategies is to continuously invest in new facilities.
Crown Worldwide was established in 1965. American James E. Thompson (then residing in Yokohama, Japan), recognized the need for an international moving service. With US $1,000 he established Transport Services International (as it was then known) in Yokohama with one office.
1970 saw its expansion into Hong Kong and thereafter into Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and other Asia Pacific locations. In 1975, Transport Services International became Crown Pacific, and by the early 1980s was established in Asia. The increase in mobility of the global population provided further growth and offices were established across America and Australasia, as well as Europe. The expansion was accompanied by a new name, the Crown Worldwide Group.
Thompson is the founder, chairman and chief executive. He graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He came to Asia shortly after graduation and has lived in Japan and Hong Kong ever since. Thompson is a U.S. citizen and a permanent resident of Hong Kong.
In March, 2005 Crown's Fine Arts division handled the relocation of the Mona Lisa. The museum curator sought professional help removing the painting to change the frame and re-hang it. Crown Fine Arts had already provided transportation of two expositions for the Louvre Museum, “Le Christ mort” and “Le sacre de Napoleon.” The Crown team reported that although the Mona Lisa is a fairly small painting, it is so well-secured that with security wires it is actually heavy.
In April, 2007, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR Government, China presented two young pandas to Hong Kong. Crown was involved in transporting the pandas to their new home in Ocean Park Hong Kong, a marine-based theme park located on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. The giant pandas arrived on April 26, and were unveiled to the public on July 1, the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong SAR government.
Crown Wine Cellars is a division offering wine storage and handling. The facility, located in a park-like setting in Shouson Hill, a suburb on Hong Kong Island, consists of two underground bunkers built by the British during World War II. Crown converted the bunkers and opened a private members' club house featuring six underground wine cellars.
The original colors of Crown Pacific were red and black. This was because the commercial trucks in Hong Kong in 1970 were generally red and black. As a result, the original business cards were red and black. Crown has kept these colors but, over time, placed more emphasis on the red. The logo always features the crown symbol with twenty dots. Today, the company uses the Crown name and logo with the tag of its various services such as:
Crown Relocations
Crown Records Management
Crown Logistics
Crown Fine Arts
Crown Wine Cellars
Crown Relocations UK Division.
In 2002, Jim Thompson, realised that there were no wine cellars in Asia,[1] and proposed to the Hong Kong Government to convert the Central Ordnance Munitions Depot into a commercial wine cellar, with a private members clubhouse and conservatory.[2] After negotiating with 22 government departments and signing a seven-year lease, Crown invested 30 million Hong Kong dollars (US$3.8 million), the Crown Wine Cellars opened in 2003.[3]
The wine cellars occupy 4 of 12 original pairs of bunkers.[4] The clubhouse which has three reception areas, two of which are located approximately twenty metres underground, can accommodate more than 100 people for sit-down dinner events and more than 200 people for private cocktails functions. The inner wall that separate two different bunkers, separating the present Library from the main reception, is composed of a brick wall of an inch, a one-inch hollow space and one-metre solid concrete wall, the inner wall serves as a blast wall in case an explosion occurs.[5] The club has approximately 700 members as at October 2009. The UNESCO presented an Award of Merit to Little Hong Kong in the year 2007.[6]
Crown was awarded the Hong Kong Award for Services in Export Marketing, and received the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce Innovative Services Award twice. Crown has also received the DHL/South China Morning Post International Award as Hong Kong's best international company.
