| The Bradford Exchange | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Direct to Consumer Marketing |
| Foundation: | (as The Bradford Gallery of Collector's Plates) |
| Key People: | Richard Tinberg (CEO) |
| Founder: | J. Roderick MacArthur |
| Location City: | Niles, Illinois |
| Num Employees: | 500+ |
| Homepage: | www.bradfordexchange.com |
The Bradford Exchange is an American producer and seller of collectible goods, jewelry, sports memorabilia and apparel. Now part of the Bradford Group, it was founded in 1973 as The Bradford Gallery of Collector's Plates by J. Roderick MacArthur.[1] The company created its first live price quotation market in 1983,[2] but increasingly turned to creating new lines of collectibles (rather than just facilitating exchanges between collectors).
The Bradford Group of companies, headquartered in Niles, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, includes many groups of collectibles, including Ardleigh Elliott, Ashton-Drake Galleries, Bradford Editions, Bradford Exchange, Hamilton Authenticated, the Hamilton Collection and Hawthorne Village. Internationally, they have a presence in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Under the Ashton-Drake Galleries name they have sold dolls like Gene Marshall and Blythe as well as Reborn dolls.
In 2019, they released a coin through their mint commemorating the World War II victories in Europe and Japan which on the reverse included flags for the Allied Powers of America, France, and Great Britain, but left out the Soviet Union.[3] [4]