Parragon began its early years by developing business through overstocks and reprinting dormant titles from key publishers archives such as Penguin Books and HarperCollins.
In 1992, Parragon shifted focus through a trial bargain book table placed in Asda's grocery store in Nuneaton. Following the trial's success, Parragon extended their bargain book strategy to other key retailers such as Tesco and Woolworths. As sales increased, these retailers employed Parragon to distribute titles from other major publishers. The distribution business continued until the mid to late 90's before Parragon decided to concentrate on their own publishing. The distribution business was offloaded to Cork International, who continued to service the grocers until 2004 before their demise.
In the late 1990s, Parragon's publishing business increased, and the company opened new offices in New York and Cologne before DC Thomson took a controlling stake in 2001. Their acquisition of Funtastic gave them significant distribution into the Australian market before further sales offices were opened in India and China, bringing the Parragon brand global.