Our Story

Welcome Enterprises was established in 1980 by cartoonist Tom Wilson and Lena Tabori, one of the co-founders of the illustrated publisher Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Welcome quickly evolved into a vehicle to create and develop visual book projects for other publishers. Among the first projects Welcome produced is its most successful title to date: Grandmother Remembers. Published in 1983, Grandmothers has sold close to two million copies and remains a perennial seller. During the 1980s, Welcome was also very closely involved with the licensing of Tom’s popular cartoon character Ziggy, and in 1984 Welcome produced “Ziggy’s Gift,” an animated television special, for which Lena received an Emmy Award as its executive producer.

In early 1989, Clark Wakabayashi joined Welcome, and this began a long period of growth in which Welcome’s client base expanded and its packaging and publishing output steadily increased. 

In 1993 Lena returned to STC as Publisher and Welcome Enterprises began publishing illustrated books as well as packaging them for others. Starting with just four titles in STC’s 1994 Fall catalog, Welcome now has a current backlist of more than 100 books published under the imprint of Welcome Books®. Among them are the best-selling Little Big Book series—with 27 titles, including The Little Big Book for Moms, which now has 400,000 copies in print; as well has numerous high-end photography books, including Jon Ortner’s Buddha, Michel Tcherevkoff’s Shoe Fleur, Paul Mobley’s American Farmer, and Amy Arbus’ On The Street; and art books such as China: 3000 Years in Art and Literature, and the venerable Sam Fink’sConstitution of the United States.  

Welcome’s packaging credits have also continued to grow. The company has produced books in collaboration with Disney Editions, George Lucas Books, Hearst Books, and Town & Country magazine; as well as with the late Richard Avedon in the production of two recent volumes of photographs; and with Rizzoli in the creation of two monumental editions: Richard Berenholtz’sNew York, New York and Tim Street-Porter’s Los Angeles.

In its third decade of existence and fifteenth year as a publisher, Welcome remains close to its roots as a creator of exquisitely crafted illustrated books. Its staff consists of a closely- knit team of dedicated and experienced professionals who bring, first and foremost, a passion and love to their work. From Grandmother Remembers back in 1983 to the publication of Peter Feldstein and Stephen G Bloom’s The Oxford Project in 2008, Welcome continues to strive for excellence—in ideas, design, craftsmanship, and service.