Labeltronix LLC does about $20 million in yearly sales making labels for some of Orange County’s biggest names, including Irvine’s Allergan Inc. and Edwards Lifesciences Corp.
The Orange-based company makes labels for companies in the medical, vitamin and food and beverage industries, among others.
Labeltronix makes and stores millions of labels every day at its 25,000-square-foot headquarters.
Customers supply Labeltronix with designs, which are printed on peel-and-stick labels via digital printers and traditional printing plates, President John Trail said.
The labels are laminated, cut into shapes, pressed and formed into rolls. Labeltronix then packs and ships labels through contractors. The entire label making process takes about two to three days, Trail said.
Dan Blair and Eric Golly started the company in 1993, selling barcode labels and printers. Five years ago, they started making labels, Trail said.
Blair and Golly tackled the usual challenges entrepreneurs face, such as limited money, help and time. Labeltronix gradually grew and has had its share of offers to be bought, Trail said.
Competitors include Wisconsin’s Label Makers Inc. and Consolidated Label Co. in Florida.
Keeping up with technology is a challenge, according to Trail.
In 2003, the company spent $4 million on digital printing gear so that it could make custom-designed labels.
Recently, the company started making hot stamped and embossed labels for the wine and gourmet food industries.
“We want to get deeper in the wine and gourmet food industries because they’re fast growing,” Trail said.
Labeltronix has 60 workers with plans to hire more, he said.
That Rocks
Costa Mesa-based Vestal Watch Inc. makes watches inspired by rock music.
They’re made with metal and leather wristbands, studs and other touches. The watches are sold at Nordstrom, Fred Segal of Los Angeles and The Closet in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, among others. Vestal also makes T-shirts, belts, hoodies, hats and wallets for men and women.
Rivals include Diesel of Italy’s S & #225;filo Group SPA and Encinitas-based Nixon Inc.
Vestal is private and doesn’t disclose yearly sales, though it did indicate they’re less than $25 million. It has 60 workers.
Vestal watches sell from $80 to more than $200. Shirts, belts and wallets are $20 to $70.
The company designs its products in Costa Mesa and has them made at factories in Switzerland and Asia. The products are packed and shipped from its 20,000-square-foot headquarters and shipped by contractors.
Johnny Gehris started Vestal with five of his friends in 1997. They noticed the growth of clothes inspired by surfing and skating and wanted to make accessories for the grunge and rock lifestyles, Gehris said.
Starting the business wasn’t easy. Gehris said he and his friends struggled with money and little experience. They rented a small office in Corona del Mar and spent a year designing and developing their first watch. They managed to sell their watch to a few local places.
About six years ago, Vestal brought in two investors, who since have been bought by Ira Robb, former president of Enterprise Rent-A-Car of Southern California. He now owns half of Vestal and is chairman, Gehris said.
“All of us had a passion for owning a company and we wanted to be involved with something that would bring music and fashion together,” Gehris said. “We had the idea but we just didn’t have the financial backing to help us.”
Vestal plans to add products, but it’s staying away from jeans and sneakers, Gehris said.
“We’re good at dressing the upper part of the body,” he said. “We just want to stick to what we’re good at.”
The company looks to promote its products by getting musicians to wear them. Some model Vestal clothes in ads. The company also sponsors concerts, Gehris said.
Vestal has worked with Eagles of Death Metal, Peaches, Shiny Toy Guns, Valient Thorr and Vains of Jenna, among others.
This summer, Vestal plans to sponsor a summer concert tour. Shows in OC and Los Angeles are in the works, Gehris said.
Fancy Financials
Stoyan Design likes to jazz up the boring, old annual report.
The Costa Mesa-based company does about a million a year in revenue making annual reports that look like coffee table books.
The reports include the 10-K form required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and are spruced up with pictures, letters, articles, charts and graphs so that they look and read like books or magazines.
Other companies that make creative annual reports include Inc Design and Chadwick Communications LLC, both of New York, and Kristof Creative in Nashville, Tenn.
Dave Stoyan Wooters started Stoyan Design in 1986 after dabbling in graphic design.
So far his company has made annual reports for several local companies including Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc., Newport Beach’s Pacific Life Insurance Co., Edwards Lifesciences, Newport Beach-based American Vanguard Corp. and Irvine’s Nexell Therapeutics Inc.
Stoyan Design helps companies come up with themes and designs for reports, Wooters said. The companies hire photographers and writers to help create the reports.
Each year, Stoyan Design does some 15 annual reports, according to Wooters. Because the business is seasonal with most public companies releasing annual reports early in the year, Stoyan Design usually is swamped in the fall and winter months, he said.
Technology is a challenge. A lot of public companies are using the Internet to publish their annual reports instead of producing books. That saves money and time, he said. But fancy annual reports help companies reach out to their investors, Wooters said.
“A lot of high profile companies are still putting out nice annual report booklets,” he said. “It’s not a requirement. But it’s just a good opportunity to tell their story.”
