PDU CAT, Inc.

PDU CAT is an international supplier primarily known for serving the awards and personalization professional with products of the highest quality. Additionally, we provide both supplies and equipment to many other industries including (but not limited to) signage, engraving, industrial fabrication, and even certain health care, governmental, and defense related entities.

In the United States, our 9 corporate owned locations allow same day or next day delivery of our products to over 98% of retailers across the country. Internationally we have distributors in Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, Africa, and Asia, ensuring our products are available worldwide.

Our mission is to provide the best service, quality, and availability in the awards and recognition industry. Our success over the past 60 years has been built on our reputation for quality and our ability to remain agile in changing times.

Our History

Continental Awards and Trophies (CAT)

Founded in 1969 by John Calcote and Robert Edens, the company that would one day become CAT started off as a retail trophy shop in the small town of Natchez, Mississippi.

At the time, the industry standard for wholesalers was that component orders were placed by retailers months in advance then manufactured to order for delivery "in season". Knowing that timeline was difficult if not impossible for many retailers, CAT made the transition from retailer to supplier by buying early and in bulk to become the first wholesaler in the industry with a model of shipping product the same day it was ordered.

The pair worked together closely until Mr. Eden's passing in 1994; by which time CAT had already expanded its operations into five states. The Calcote family continued to focus on CAT's legacy of customer service while pursuing a dual strategy of growth by organic means as well as by acquisition.

Plastic Dress-Up Company (PDU)

Originally launched in 1959 as a custom decor company, PDU started by making plastic components which looked like metal for television companies. However, there was a growing need to mass-produce trophies for the various bowling and baseball leagues that were rapidly popping up in the postwar American suburbs. PDU forever changed how trophies were made by developing the first plastic award components for trophy shops in the 1960s.

Besides being the first company to introduce plastic awards to the market, PDU was one of the first companies to make resin awards for its clients.

Stronger Together

In 2017, Plastic Dress-Up Company (PDU) and Continental Awards and Trophies (CAT) merged to form PDU CAT, Inc., headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. The combined company has significantly improved strength, innovation and flexibility with the ability to deliver a broader range of products to service customers.

PDU CAT's Awards & Recognitions

We are proud of our many achievements and industry recognition.

The Awards and Personaliztion Association (APA) recognizes the contributions, hard work, and creativity of the awards and personalization industry with annual awards and product contests. Award recipients are selected by their peers, and the awards provide a testament of the recipients' work in providing innovative products or high-quality service to their customers.

• 2023 Supplier of the Year
• 2020 Best Supplier Master Components Catalog
• 2017 Best Supplier Retail Catalog
• 2015 Best Supplier Website
• 2015 Sales Representative of the Year, Marla Francis
• 2013 APA Customer Service Representative of the Year, Gena Russell
• 2012 APA Founders Award, Ed Hunt
• 2012 APA Sales Representative of the Year, Cliff Smith
• 2011 APA Hall of Fame, Myron Funk
• 2009 APA Sales Representative of the Year, Joe McLaughlin
• 2009 Best New Product: Trophy Component
• 2009 Best New Product: Most Creative
• 2008 APA Customer Service Representative of the Year, Gena Russell
• 2007 APA Sales Representative of the Year, Wayne McKnight
• 2006 Sales Representative of the Year, Jim Spearman
• 2006 Best New Product, Most Creative
• 2005 Best New Product, Trophy Component
• 2004 Supplier of the Year
• 2003 Best New Catalog
• 2002 Supplier of the Year
• 2002 Best New Product: Trophy Component
• 2001 Supplier of the Year
• 1999 Best New Catalog
• 1998 Best New Catalog