Strong Ending

The evolution at drinkware manufacturer Tervis Tumbler, in everything from sales and employees to production space and cups made, is remarkably contrarian, considering the recession.

The Venice-based company, for one, upped its output from 40,000 cups a day to 80,000 in 2011. It completed construction on a factory and office expansion, going from 35,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet. Employee head count ballooned, too, from about 425 when the company was featured on the cover of the Business Review in late January to 700 during peak holiday season in early December. Annual revenues, around $75 million in 2010, surpassed $100 million, though the company declines to release specific sales figures.  

Tervis even doubled its company-run retail store presence in 2011, from five, with four in Florida, to 10 stores nationwide. New locations include stores in Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. The company now sells products in all 50 states, when including the Internet.