UPPER MARLBORO, Md.--March 26, 2003-- Increased sales and lower labor costs are among the benefits national retail chains are receiving from in-store signs produced by Foxfire Printing on its new digital color press from Xerox Corporation. Foxfire's is using its new Xerox DocuColor iGen3(TM) Digital Production Press to apply different colors, images and text to each point-of-purchase sign in a print run, adding impact that can increase sales. The photos also provide visual cues that reduce the time and labor cost required for hanging P-O-P materials, including shelf-tags and end-cap signs. Additionally, the Foxfire system enables faster turnaround -- as little as one week, compared to as long as two months for traditional vinyl signs -- and economical production of small print runs. Foxfire is currently the only company producing P-O-P signs on the state-of-the-art iGen3 press, and Foxfire expects the iGen3-based offering will grow quickly. The iGen3 delivers performance that is unmatched among cut-sheet digital presses, including excellent image quality, cost-effective operations and print speed of 100 impressions per minute. "We've been developing our in-store sign program for several years to take full advantage of this press, and it is delivering precisely as we hoped it would," said John Ferretti, president and chief executive officer, Foxfire Printing. "The iGen3 establishes a new standard for in-store retail sign production and shelf-level marketing that our competitors simply cannot match." Foxfire produces as many as 12 million signs per week for such national retail chains as Eckerd Corporation, Toys-R-Us and Ahold USA at its data and print center in Upper Marlboro, Md. A proprietary software program developed by Foxfire, called RapidSign, controls the variable data flow for both layout and sorting. Signs are printed, cut and collated automatically in the order that the stores prefer, typically enabling employees to pull signs for placement in their stacked order as they walk the aisles. Incorporating product photos further aids recognition of sign locations, reducing labor costs, which typically represent seven to 10 times the cost of the signs. Ferretti cites studies showing that adding color images to P-O-P signs, as Foxfire is doing with the iGen3, increases sales by up to 5 percent. "Our system permits retailers to reduce store labor costs and to increase same-store sales, the two metrics by which retail performance is gauged," he said. "For our customers, this is a solution, not another print job." Foxfire Printing's in-store sign business dates to 1988, when it became one of the first companies to produce in-store signs by using Xerox laser printers to imprint price and other variable information onto offset shells. With the recent purchase of the Baltimore Sign Company, in-store retail signs now account for about 65 percent of the firm's business. Foxfire is a full service printing and fulfillment company with 170 employees. For more information about Xerox digital products, visit www.xerox.com. For more information about Foxfire Printing, visit www.foxfireprinting.com.