The local printing industry isn’t dead, but it’s not growing either. That’s the takeaway from a review of Orange County’s 30 largest commercial printers, which combined for $617.7 million in sales last year, about the same as in 2014.
This week’s Business Journal list ranks the companies based on sales stemming from production by OC-based printing presses. It also shows their joint local workforce at 2,593, up 1.7%, including 175 sales staffers, three fewer than in 2014, though employee numbers don’t factor into the ranking.
The printers run 108 presses in OC out of 2,231 nationwide.
Fourteen of the companies reported revenue increases, six posted drops, and sales for 9 firms are Business Journal estimates.
• One company—Advanced Image Direct in Fullerton—reported no change from the previous year and held on to the No. 5 spot with $24 million in sales and 150 employees. And things are looking up for this year, according to Perry Wilson, its vice president of sales.
“We have acquired new accounts, adding up to some significant volume increases for 2016, well over 100 million pieces of additional print and mail,” he said.
• Brixen & Sons Inc. in Santa Ana, No. 22, posted the biggest increase—34.8% for $5.6 million in sales.
Corey Brixen co-founded the company in 1992 with Son Nguyen. Brixen attributed the double-digit growth to an increase in orders by existing customers, which include the Orange County Museum of Art, Nordstrom Inc., Safeway Inc., The Kroger Co.’s Ralphs and Food4Less, Rubios Coastal Grill and Disneyland Resort.
“Our top customer was up 25%, and our second largest customer was up a whopping 269%, while customers three and four were actually down about 25%,” Brixen said. “Most of our work is for major retail or grocery chains, and we’ve come to expect a lot of ups and downs with sales volume, whether or not the clients’ overall sales are up or down.
“The customer that was up 269% added a significant number of new locations in 2015, and because they apparently like working with us, they gave us the opportunity to get involved with more of their [point-of-purchase] printing than we were doing previously.”
The company employs 25, one fewer than last year. It acquired two “state-of-the-art” large-format printing presses last year for about $1.4 million, Brixen said. “Those presses have opened new doors to us by printing not only faster, but also using less ink, which has made us more competitive in several areas.”
Other highlights from the list include:
• No. 1, Trend Offset Printing Services Inc. in Los Alamitos, which took in an estimated $310 million in companywide revenue. About $186 million of that came from its OC operations, keeping it at the top spot. It employs more than 600 locally and operates 16 printing presses.
• Primary Color Systems in Costa Mesa, No. 2, which reported $68 million in revenue, up 9.7%. The company also increased staffing levels by 13.3% for a total of 350.
“Our proprietary technology offering of new store opening kits and store profiling has caught the attention of many retailers and those in the fast casual space,” said Jeff Peterson, director of marketing at Primary Color. “We have grown our design and fabrication department and have been able to execute projects on an international level with our production facility in Shanghai, China.”
• Fontis Solutions in Irvine, No. 3 and a list newcomer, which was acquired last year by Dallas-based franchiser Safeguard Business Systems on undisclosed terms.
The commercial printer has a product lineup that ranges from paper products to uniforms, point-of-sale displays and other promotional items, plus fulfillment and marketing services. It employs 68 and had an estimated $40 million in revenue.
• The Dot Corp. in Irvine, No. 4, which posted a 17.8% sales increase to $29.8 million. It also hired five workers for a total of 190.
• Westamerica Communications in Lake Forest. It dropped four spots to No. 7. It reported a 27.6% dip in revenue to $20.8 million, and also cut staff 8.6% to 96.
• OCPC—An RR Donnelley Company in Irvine, which was down 22.7% for the year to a total of $17 million. The firm dropped three spots on the list to No. 9 in a tie with Meridian Graphics Inc. in Irvine. OCPC employs 80, a 5.9 % dip, and Meridian has 92 workers, a 5.7% uptick.
