During the 1970s Bob Page was an auditor for the state of North Carolina. While very busy with this work, Bob's real passion was collecting, which he pursued during his free time. An area of special interest was china and crystal.

In time friends and family learned of his pastime. Naturally, they asked him to be on the lookout for patterns in order to replace pieces. Bob quickly found himself devoting progressively more time to his hobby, often staying up late to fill orders. His storage space was his attic, while his bedroom served as his office.

In 1981, he left his auditing career and founded Replacements, Ltd. With the aid of one part-time assistant and tremendous response from small ads placed in national shelter magazines such as Southern Living and Better Homes and Gardens, Replacements' clientele dramatically expanded. Customer requests were recorded on 3x5 index cards, which eventually grew to a computer database containing pattern and piece requests for more than 9 million customers worldwide. Sales for 1981 reached $150,000 and by 1984, they were close to $4 million. In fiscal 2007, sales exceeded $85 million, and customer requests are still pouring in!