Ray Gendreau purchased a 12-year-old Sir Speedy franchise in 1996. The Sir Speedy was doing about $600,000 in sales at the time of purchase. In just four years, sales quadrupled to $2,500,000 in 2000. Upon the purchase of the franchise, Apex Press bought out the franchise contract and turned it into an independent operation. The company invested in new equipment and a professional staff.

Before Apex Press, Ray owned two Sir Speedy franchise stores for ten years in Wellesley and Waltham Massachusetts. Ray served as a Lt. Colonel in the US Air Force and worked in private industry before owning his Sir Speedy franchises.

37 computers and 21 employees - Please explain.

We are digitally focused. Our customers are high tech marketing and training businesses that are more comfortable providing digital art then paper originals. We output to color copiers (3), wide format printers (3), black and white printers (4), burn CD's for resale, provide 35mm slides, and output film via an imagesetter.

Our three outside sales people and the Sales Manager service our customers at their locations throughout a ten to twelve mile circle of our operations. Our equipment includes a four-color press - first of its kind in the NorthEast - that offers two-day turnaround. Our service includes graphic design, production -- as well as fulfillment.

You have recently added a Heidelberg, Ryobie press and also a Heidelberg 9110. When did you make these investments and have sales goals been met to feed this equipment?

In the last six months we added a Heidelberg 2-color press and a Ryobie 4-color press - as a result printing sales are now starting to accelerate. We also added a Heidelberg 9110 printer and a Ricoh printer - sales of black and white copies have doubled since their arrival. One additional sales person was added during this period as well which will help meet sales goals. We plan to purchase a Computer to METAL plate and increase staff in our graphics, copy production and bindery departments very soon.

How do you view those in the ePrint space?

We are a SERVICE Business. Service requires physical contact. Those that shop in the ePrint space think what we do is a COMMODITY. We will continue to find customers that want to acquire SERVICE. Some COMMODITY buyers will find ePrint sources that meet their needs.

Most printers depend on their own skills in developing marketing strategies. You have hired an ad agency. Has that helped your business have a competitive edge?

We have worked with an advertising firm for the last eight months. They are helping us develop a new "brand identity" - . . . we make you look good!. They have created new collateral, business news advertisements, a trade show booth, billboard art and direct mail postcards. The implementation of the new collateral is now only three months old -- we will support it for however long it takes!

What tips do you have for print buyers?

Take a tour -- see what kinds of things your supplier can produce. Don't just look at equipment -- look at samples of what the shop has done. Build a relationship with your supplier -- so you know what to expect.

Give us your take on industry trade shows, specifically in the quick print world.

Quick print shows no longer display operating equipment. Large format print shows do not include seminars. Those that are doing seminars need to deliver new messages. There are too few speakers telling us only that which we have heard before.

Give us your take on Print Image International - has that association been helpful?

As the President of our local trade association - NEAQP: New England Association of Quick Printers - I see the local associations offering more than the national associations with networking being the primary benefit of the local associations. Our local group has meeting attendance in the 75 - 100 range yet the national association, Print Image International often cannot get even half that many to one of their seminars.

What about trade magazines?

Better then nothing -- not as good as we need: reviews are usually very biased and are normally written by the advertisers. We need less bias.


Thank you Ray and we are sure everyone loved your picture.