Tribute to Danka "Dan is Danka"

I can remember in the early eighties the Danka Buzz! If you owned a profitable dealership you had high hopes that Danka would come calling.

Everytime you turned around you heard about Danka buying another dealership. Back in the eighties we had Xerox direct and from what I remember everything else was dealerships. You could call it the "Golden Age of Copier Dealerships", all were thriving, all were making money and there was a great entreprenuerial spirit in the industry. Many owners got the pay day of thier lives from this Golden Era.

It's sad to see to see a great American company fall. However, it may present some great opportunities for those involved.

Danka's time line:

1977: Started in Tampa by Dan Doyle and Frank McPeak, Danka's name was forged from the first names of its co-founders.

January 1997: Under Doyle's leadership, Danka grew to more than $3-billion in sales by the time it acquired the office imaging business of Eastman Kodak for $588-million.

October 1998: Doyle resigns as chief executive after the Kodak deal causes financial chaos.

2004: Danka sells its Canadian subsidiary.

2005: Danka sells South and Central American business to Toshiba.

2006: Danka sells its European operations to Ricoh Co. of Japan for $210-million, slashing its business in half.

November 2007: Danka shares delisted from Nasdaq.

April 8, 2008: Konica Minolta agrees to purchase Danka for $240-million.