2021 Top 100 Small Commercial Printers

Each year, WhatTheyThink | Printing News invites small commercial print business owners to participate in our Top 100 Shops Survey. The key word is “small”; the upper limit for participation at $25 million in annual revenues. Our Top Shop this year came in at $21.32 million. (Last year’s winner had barely qualified at $24.99 million, but this year exceeded our limit.) 

In 2020, the shops included in our Top 100 list accounted for just under half a billion dollars in revenue—$463,870,216, representing a 16% decline from 2019 which was not surprising given the pandemic year. If we look at revenues for our top shops, 28% saw a 25%+ decrease in revenues in 2020 from 2019, and only 8% said 2020 saw a 10%+ increase over 2019—but one-half of top shops are expecting a 10%+ increase in revenues in 2021. Anecdotally, some of this year’s winners said they are already on track to achieve that.

 [Download the complete list here]

The theme of last year’s Top Shops survey was surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, and this year’s theme is the recovery—or, as I like to call it, the aftermath. Our survey was being conducted in April and May of this year, so the survey responses reflect an industry in recovery mode, but still licking their wounds. 

Still, lest we think that it was all-COVID all the time for everyone, we added an open-ended question “How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business?” and at least four respondents—including one of our Top 6—wrote in: “COVID did not have a measurable impact on my business” or “not applicable.” So nice work if you can get it! 

Demographics

Looking at the list of Top Shops, a large number are franchises. If you read our Franchise Report in the April 2021 issue, you know that franchises were well-positioned to fare better than average during the pandemic, given the support that a franchise network can provide. 

The oldest company in our in our Top 100 this year is Cleveland’s Foote Printing, founded in 1907. The newest company is Sir Speedy Tampa, founded in 2017. The median founding date for all companies in the Top 100 was 1989. 

The majority of our respondents have one location; AJ Images reported 21 locations. In the Top 10, 2.6 locations is the average (not that anyone has .6 of a location), and Alphagraphics Idaho Falls, Ida., has 8 locations. In terms of employees, the average number of full-time employees in the Top 100 is 26; our Top Shop this year (Strategic Factory) tops the list at 131, with an additional five part-time employees. 

Applications

Wide-format inkjet printing and color digital printing/copying are both performed by 95% of respondents. COVID signage was the saving grace of many print businesses in 2020 (and traditional printers had been moving into wide format for years), and wide format accounted for, on average, 17% of revenues. Color digital printing/copying accounted for, on average, 22% of revenues and remains our Top Shops’ top application type. Four-color process color printing is holding steady, performed by 76% of respondents (up from 63%), and accounts for 17% of revenues, unchanged from last year. 

Wide format shot to the top of the list largely thanks to what has been called the “pivot”—during the pandemic, print businesses started producing the applications that were in demand, such as safety signage and the like. These offset—although not entirely—declines in print demand elsewhere. Said one respondent in our open-ended question, “We were able to produce more than a thousand safety shields. Mail plummeted as people lost confidence in the USPS. We are still missing our printing for events and conferences as it has been more than a year. I don’t expect to see them back full strength until the fall.”

Indeed, those businesses whose client base primarily consisted of travel, events, hospitality, and other shutdown industries had the biggest challenges. 

Another respondent wrote in, “[Our] general revenue decreased due to our core clients, events and experiential marketing, and ad agencies changing their spend to digital. Another core of our revenue was municipalities and public exhibits and with budgets slashed and many municipalities closed we lost even more of our core revenue. We did produce PPE, signage, and other graphics, but this increase in product offering did not offset our ‘typical’ revenue that was lost due to COVID.”

Celebration signage was also a growth opportunity last year, especially around May and June graduation season. Some of our Top Shops noticed what was in demand and reacted accordingly. One Top Shop respondent wrote in: “We quickly noticed restaurants and stores moving to announce Still Open signage and it transitioned to Curbside Pickup and directional signage. Our A-Frame, Directional, and Floor Graphic printing skyrocketed and it stayed consistent for most of 2020. In May, the whole country realized we need to make our kids and families aware of big announcements like graduations and birthdays. We had several weeks where it seemed like all we produced were graduation yard signs and yard letters! We were fortunate enough that we gained the new opportunities, but quite a bit of our normal business stayed active.” 

Top Challenges

The top challenge, selected by three-fourths of our Top Shops, is “regaining business lost to COVID-19.” The other top challenges reflect some of the consequences of the pandemic that other industries are struggling with, such as staffing back up. This was of course an issue the industry has been struggling with even pre-COVID. “Local economic issues” also represents fallout from last year’s shutdowns, and “consumables and supplies prices” reflects supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic. Seeing “keeping my employees safe from COVID-19” is far down the list—which is actually a good thing as vaccination rates have gone up and COVID cases have gone down. This particular challenge was number two in our in our Fall 2020 Business Outlook Survey—before vaccinations had ramped up. 

Top Opportunities

The top two opportunities involve waiting for things to get better—whether it be the virus going away or the economy improving. “Hiring new salespeople” is always a top opportunity, but we rarely see “acquiring another company” so high on this list. We’ve already been tracking a pick-up in M&A activity, and we suspect another round of industry consolidation is in the cards, as the strong print businesses that did well during the pandemic pick up the assets, equipment, and/or books of business of those that didn’t fare so well.  

As the economy recovers and people start going back to work and to something vaguely like “normal,” print businesses are seeing a recovery. One respondent wrote in: “Online orders suffered for a bit, but have gained speed over the past two months immensely. Those were mainly business card and standard office collaterals that have picked back up since people are now back in the office and out selling.”

The key to survival for many Top Shops has been diversity of product and service offerings. As one respondent put it: “Small format took a nose-dive and large format, especially floor graphics, went through the roof. Since the beginning of 2021, we have regained small-format business from our wide-format customers due to the strength of our relationships and the closing of their small-format suppliers. The trust we have built and continue to build brought us the additional business as our goal is to be as close to a one-stop shop for project solution providing as possible.”

Planned Investments

Comparing investment plans to pre-COVID surveys doesn’t show that big of a difference: for the past few years, “we have no planned investments” has topped this list, and that is number two this year is a little bit of an anomaly, taking as it does a back seat to “finishing/bindery equipment for digital production.” “Additional space/new location” is also abnormally high on thus survey. 

This Year’s Winners

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Top 100! Two of the Top 6 were in our Top 6 last year. Our six Top Shops (by 2020 sales) this year are:

1. Strategic Factory, Owings Mills, Md.—$21,322,863
2. Yunker Industries, Inc., Elkhorn, Wis.—$19,500,000
3. Professional Printers, West Columbia, S.C.—$17,926,000
4. Sir Speedy Whittier, Whittier, Calif.—$17,473,176
5. Allegra Asheville, Asheville, N.C.—$16,234,821
6. Allen Printing Company, Nashville, Tenn.—$15,000,000

#1 Strategic Factory

Strategic Factory (https://strategicfactory.com) was founded in 1999 by Keith Miller as a two-person quick print franchise but has grown to a 40,000-square-foot production facility with more than 130 employees. The company offers commercial printing, as well as signage, vehicle graphics, branded apparel and promotional items, and a full range of creative and design services. 

“Our success in 2020 was largely attributed to the flexibility and perseverance of our amazing team,” said Miller. “We were able to help our customers stay safe by creating and supplying PPE. We also helped them find new and innovative ways to stay connected with their employees, communicate with their customers, and sustain business during a challenging time.” They also quickly leapt into the PPE fray. “As we began to notice the shortages in PPE-related items, we immediately leveraged our existing supply chain and equipment to source and produce various forms of PPE and other safety items at a minimum price for our customers— including government agencies, hospital systems, senior living facilities, schools, and countless other essential businesses—in an effort to protect workers on the frontlines as quickly as possible,” said Miller. Strategic Factory also produced health-related signage, school packets for students, custom floor graphics to encourage social distancing in stores, large sneeze guards at check-out lines, and window clings for restaurants to promote food delivery services. “As one client wrote, ‘You all have been such a great resource in this crazy time. You are truly helping us to protect a lot of people,’” added Miller.

The company is launching into 2021 with a rebrand and enhanced customer communications. “We have spent much of 2021 working to develop and implement strategies to make our business more efficient, focusing on things like automation production efficiencies, and throughput,” said Miller. “Additionally, we took some time to focus on the next generation of the Strategic Factory brand, including a style refresh, launching a brand-new website, and implementing a smart new CRM. We are currently working to redesign our customer journey to provide more personalized and relevant communication.”

#2 Yunker Industries

Yunker Industries (www.yunker.com) is the second oldest company in our Top 6, founded as Yunker Sign & Display in 1948 by Warren & Mary Helen Yunker and is headed today by Kari Yunker. Initially a sign shop, the company added more and more retailers to its client base and began producing permanent and semi-permanent graphics, branding elements and display fixtures, and wayfinding signage. Today, Yunker is a retail marketing services organization, handling all aspects of wide-format and signage, prototyping, design, fulfillment, and installation. 

“We were fortunate to implement safety protocols to keep our employees safe and healthy while supporting our clients’ needs during these challenging times,” Nadine Seitz, Marketing Manager, wrote in our Top Shops survey. “Our main focus has continued to be providing relevant store environments for our clients’ customers, but we have augmented this with communication tools to help educate and keep employees and customers safe. We have also implemented technologies to help our clients manage programs collaboratively as workplace dynamics have changed.”

#3 Professional Printers

With two locations, in Columbia and West Columbia, S.C., and 125 employees, Professional Printers Inc. (PPI, www.proprinters.com) was our #4 Top Shop last year. A long-time offset “job shop,” the company recently began investing in digital printing, allowing the company to expand into short-run and variable-data printing. 

During the crisis last year, said Jess MacCallum, President, “we made a commitment to keep everyone working: no layoffs, even before the PPP was in place.” PPI also kept in close contact with its customers. “We paid close attention to the rapidly evolving needs of our customers and responded in step with them.” PPI delivered proofs to clients at their homes, set up Zoom meetings for press checks, and even recorded video introductions for their sales staff to help reach new clients who were still cautious about face-to-face meetings.  

For 2021, it’s back to the future. “We’ve hit the accelerator on the plans we had from 2019 that were put on hold,” said MacCallum. “We’ve hired two veteran sales people, a new inside account manager, and multiple production people. We’ve fully implemented our marketing campaign and sample program and will be increasing our lead generation with the help of a new intern. Our commitment to bringing youth into the company remains strong, and several of our interns have accepted full time positions after graduation.”

#4 Sir Speedy Whittier (Calif.)

Founded in 1979, Sir Speedy Whittier (www.sirspeedy.com/whittierca510) was one of the fortunate ones. “COVID did not have a measurable impact on our business,” George Coriaty, owner, wrote in our Top Shops survey. Sir Speedy Whittier provides virtually every form of marketing communication, going beyond the high-quality color printing and book publishing they made their name with and offering signage, packaging and label printing, and data services, and is staying on top of new technologies and new media—they even have an in-house video production company called Team Smart for video marketing projects for clients. The diverse array of products and services meant that Sir Speedy Whittier didn’t have to “pivot”—they were able to offer whatever was in demand.

#5 Allegra Asheville (N.C.)

Allegra Asheville (www.AllegraAsheville.com) was founded in 1998 as Mail Management Services and became an Allegra franchise in 2015. Its client base runs the gamut of businesses in the Asheville, N.C., area. It was teamwork that got the business through a tough year. “It really was a collaboration between our team and our clients, as well as the vendors that we rely on,” said Dave Campbell, owner and president. “Kudos to all those folks that are involved.” Campbell also cites being part of a franchise network as helping his center get through the crisis.  

2021 started a little slow for Allegra Asheville, but March and April really saw business returning in force. “April of this year was the highest grossing sales month in our company history,” said Campbell. “So it’s coming back. May looks pretty strong.”

#6 Allen Printing Company

Returning to the Top 6 this year is Allen Printing Company (www.allenprinting.com), which is also the oldest company in our Top 10 having been founded in Nashville in 1931. Being able to jump on new opportunities as they present themselves has been a key ingredient in Allen Printing’s success, even before the pandemic, but especially during. “We have been all about being nimble and rolling with the punches, of which there was a flurry!” said Paul Heffington, president. “We realized that during the crisis we had very little control over much of anything, so we focused on what we could control and tried to do the best we could with the other. As government entities would change rules, we would try to comply with them and try to make them as unencumbered as we could for our employees and clients.”

Heffington also added that the recovery is not as simple as just picking up where they left off. “For 2021, we plan to be opportunistic and grow what we can during this time of chaos,” he said. “This year has ended up posing just as many hurdles as last year, just on the other end of production—trouble getting supplies and workers.

“To me, this is the time for fun to begin!”

Look for more detailed profiles on PrintingNews.com and WhatTheyThink.com and as part of Warren Werbitt’s Print to Printer video series.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey, and congratulations to this year’s Top Shops!