Northcoast Imprints expands product, service offerings at new location in Madison Township
Oct. 16—Tim Sizemore's commute to and from work has gotten a bit longer.
In recent years, the owner of Northcoast Imprints conducted business inside a garage that he had converted into a workshop at his Madison Township home.
However, since July 1, Sizemore has been making the daily drive between his house and a building at 7480 North Ridge Road in Madison Township. That edifice that had been the longtime headquarters of Hughes Embroidery.
Sizemore bought the embroidery business from owner Linn Hughes and converted into the new location of Northcoast Imprints.
Although work is now farther away from home for Sizemore, he's not complaining. In fact, he's excited that the move, and acquisition of Hughes' embroidery operation, has allowed him to expand Northcoast Imprints' variety of products and services.
"I want to do more full-circle and offer more items to the customers," he said.
After setting up shop in Hughes' former building, Northcoast Imprints began providing embroidery services to customers for the first time in about five years.
Sizemore had purchased several commercial embroidery machines in 2013, when he decided to begin running Northcoast Imprints as a full-time enterprise. However, as the sole employee of the business, Sizemore realized that performing embroidery prevented him from diversifying his business.
So in 2016, he sold the embroidery machines and embarked on offering a wider variety of products, such as gifts, trophies and awards, in addition to printed apparel.
When Sizemore decided that Northcoast Imprints would resume embroidering at its new location, he kept one of Hughes' employees, Kelee Ryder, to assist with that side of the business.
"She's worked for Linn (Hughes, the former owner) for 10 years," Sizemore said.
Northcoast Imprints now is able to bill itself as a locally owned and operated custom embroidery, print and gift shop.
"We do all the stuff you've seen Linn do, the embroidery and the screen printing, but I also have a printer in the back where I can do full-color banners and signs," Sizemore said.
In addition, Sizemore recently purchased a new direct-to-garment printer.
"Direct-to-garment printing is a great way to get full-color designs onto shirts and apparel," Sizemore said. "There is no limit to the colors and the print will look and feel great."
Other items produced by Northcoast Imprints include wall murals, vehicle wraps, laser-engraved and -cut gifts, custom apparel, wooden and metal prints, and custom printed ceramic and glass.
Although Northcoast Imprints receives and fulfills plenty of orders for large quantities of items, Sizemore said he also enjoys being able provide customers with "one-offs" — a single custom-made gift or item.
"I want to be the local person who can do things that you might not be able to get elsewhere," he said.
Customer response has been great since Northcoast Imprints launched operations at its new location about 3 1/2 months ago, Sizemore said.
"The past customers (of Hughes Embroidery) are still coming back, and I've got new customers coming in," he said. "I'm able to explain to past customers other stuff that we do here, so we can help them out. So it's been really nice."
In addition, Sizemore said he is eager to carry on, and hopefully enhance, the tradition of business excellence that Linn Hughes established during his long stretch of occupying the same building.
"I want to do as good — and better," he said. "My goal has always been to hopefully pleasantly surprise people with what we can put out, and what all we offer. So that's what I go for."
