Cartamundi Names Tricia Bouras Executive Vice President for North America; Next Phase of Company Brand Growth Planned

TURNHOUT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cartamundi, the worldwide leader in “play” solutions and trusted partner to leading toy companies across the globe, today announced the appointment of Tricia Bouras, as executive vice president for the company’s North America Retail and Industry segment, under the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC). USPCC was acquired by Cartamundi in 2019 and is renowned globally for its premier playing card brands, Bicycle® and Bee®, craftsmanship and innovation.

With more than 30 years of strategic work and transformational results for major brands, Bouras’ experience aligns with the planned growth objectives for the company. Bouras is expected to lead initiatives to evolve the USPCC brand portfolio to new levels, grow the global B2C strategy and increase market share over the next five years.

“Tricia is a proven leader who brings extensive experience, guiding and leading high-performing teams and strategic initiatives with incredible business results,” said Stefaan Merckx, CEO of Cartamundi. “We’re happy to welcome Tricia to the Cartamundi team.”

Innovation and the next phase of growth is already underway, as the company recently launched its first-ever Bicycle NFT “Genesis Collection," featuring the brand's iconic cards transformed 1000 years into the future by artist Adrian Valenzuela. https://bicyclecards.com/article/collecting-playing-card-nfts/#filter=.collectors.collectors

Additionally, the company is partnering with The Original Smiley® Brand to develop a limited-edition collector’s deck of Bicycle playing cards available starting early March at select Nordstrom locations across the U.S as well as at Nordstrom.com and Bicyclecards.com.

Prior to joining USPCC, Bouras led multimillion-dollar portfolios for major global brands. As former President of the Footwear Division at RG Barry Corporation, Bouras leveraged corporate endeavors resulting in significant positive bottom-line impact across business divisions including the well-known Dearfoams brand. Prior to that, she served as vice president of Hanesbrands, Inc. leading revenue growth for a portfolio spanning six brands and five categories across North America and Europe.

“I’m excited for the future category growth and product innovation opportunities aligned with the strength of these incredible iconic brands,” said Tricia Bouras, executive vice president, Cartamundi.

Bouras resides in Kentucky with her family. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

About The United States Playing Card Company

The United States Playing Card Company is the leader in the production and distribution of premier brands of playing cards, including BICYCLE®, BEE®, AVIATOR®, HOYLE®, and KEM®. BICYCLE cards have been the bestselling playing card brand for almost 135 years. Founded in 1867, the company manufactures and globally distributes a broad portfolio of traditional playing cards, card games, board games, accessories, and casino gaming products. Read more at: http://www.usplayingcard.com.

About Cartamundi

Cartamundi acquired The United States Playing Card Company in 2019. Cartamundi is the worldwide leader in “play” solutions. Our team of over 3,000 employees is united in delivering our common purpose of “sharing the magic of playing together.” The opportunity to “play” gives us all the ability to connect, de-stress and learn something new. We are promoting “play” through our extensive global portfolio of (playing) card brands, while continuing to invest in manufacturing and innovation to bring new ideas to life. These contributions ensure we are the trusted partner of leading toy companies around the world.

Our global brand portfolio includes a suite of heritage brands which go back as far as 1848, including global brands like Bicycle®, Bee®, Copag®, Shuffle® and many locally loved brands. These brands combine craftsmanship with innovation as the basis for their continued relevance and positive contribution to the local communities that love and use these brands. We are a family-owned company with headquarters in Belgium and have a global sales office network and 13 manufacturing facilities.

Learn more about what we do at: https://www.cartamundi.com.