LIGGETT-STASHOWER, INC., was formed from the merger of two of Cleveland's leading advertising agencies. Carr Liggett, formerly a vice-president of the Krichbaum-Liggett agency, established his own firm, Carr Liggett, Inc., in 1933 with offices in the Leader Bldg., 524 Superior. By 1937 Carr Liggett had moved to the NBC Bldg., 815 Superior. On 1 July 1954, Liggett sold his major interest in the firm to Jack Wilson and became senior counsel for the company. Wilson changed the company's philosophy from "copy-contact" to "a creative department agency," adding an art department and, in 1958, a media department. In 1969, the company bought Merchandising Advertisers, Inc., of Mt. Prospect, IL, and the following year it acquired Rodgers & Co., a Cleveland Hts. industrial advertising agency founded in 1959 by Robt. C. Rodgers. The latter acquisition increased Carr Liggett's staff by one-half, to 69.
After Hal Shoup became president on 31 May 1978, the firm continued its expansion by adding public relations, sales promotion, and special services, such as HighTech and Creative Studio L, to its list of services. Under executive vice-president Michael W. Carlton, the company successfully marketed the Liggett/36 Information System to advertising agencies throughout the world. In 1980 Carr Liggett absorbed the Roberts Advertising Agency, expanding the employee-owned firm to 83 staff members. In 1986 Carr Liggett agreed to merge with LANG, FISHER & STASHOWER Advertising, Inc., to form Liggett-Stashower, Inc. With David L. Stashower, previously head of Lang, Fisher, & Stashower, as the chairman and chief executive, Liggett-Stashower moved into the Halle Bldg. in 1989.
At the time of the merger, Liggett-Stashower was the third largest advertising agency in Cleveland with approximately 130 employees and estimated billings of nearly $73 million a year. In 1997, David Stashower purchased GRISWOLD-ESHLEMAN, CO.'s client list, which included SHERWIN WILLIAMS, CO.'s automotive division and several of Anchor Hocking's divisions. In 2004, Mark Nylander served as chief executive of the company, which had become the second-largest agency in the city. Some of Liggett-Stashower's clients include Cedar Point, FOREST CITY ENTERPRISES, INC., the Ohio Lottery, and COLE NATIONAL CORP.'s Sears Optical and Cole Managed Vision divisions.