The global signage market in 2022 was $35.4 billion and it is projected to grow to $63.1 billion by 2031 at a rate of 6.3%. To say that this is an opportunity for those PSPs in that space is an understatement, especially since packaging is projected to grow at rate of about 3.9% during that same period. The growth can probably be attributed to the shift to online business, where signage acts as a silent salesperson. New sign and display technologies have also helped drive the increase as more players look to find differentiators to capture audience attention. This combined with a solid business ethos, a long history and good margins is what drives the growth of Enhance a Colour. I spoke with Kevin O’Connor, CEO, Enhance a Colour about his mastery of visual solutions.

In 1974, Kevin O’Connor was selling Addressograph Multigraph machines to corporations, small businesses, schools, etc. His territory was in NYC from 46th Street to 51st Street from Fifth Avenue to the river (minus ad agencies). One of the accounts he had was Colgate Palmolive, and he made some friends there. O’Connor told one of them about a cousin of his that was a disabled vet just back from Vietnam. He couldn’t find a job because he was injured, and had a wooden leg, and told his friend that he thought he would start a little black-and-white copy shop in the city to help his cousin out. His friend at Colgate introduced him to administrative VP who purchased about $300,000 in outside printing services there. This VP told him that he too was injured and had a bum leg from Korea, and told O’Connor to let him know when he started the business, because he would call him first if he had any printing to do. 

After that, O’Connor started to look for a location that could work and some equipment. One of the customers where he had recently placed some new AM presses, had an old platemaker and presses that he was willing to sell him cheap. So with an old platemaker and two Multis he started his printing business, without any real business experience. Fortunately, his soon-to-be wife Barbara had the business expertise and has been by his side ever since. They started their company on the 14th floor of a building on East 45th Street, and then as they grew, they continued to expand down to the 12th floor and ultimately the to the 10th floor. As they continued to grow, Kevin and his brother Jim purchased two 29-inch Miehle presses and brought them in with a crane through the 10th floor windows. After a three year period, they were doing about three and a half million dollars.