High standard: Davises keep printing business in the family

When Krista Davis was old enough to walk, she began exploring an ammonia-infused forest of blueprint machinery at her parents’ print shop.

Eventually she was handed a broom. Then print jobs.

Today, the anhydrous ammonia smell is no more, the traditional blueprint process having been replaced by digital technology.

But children – Krista and Leon Davis’ 8- and 5-year-old – still explore the premises after hours, leaving evidence in their wake.

“They have a lot of rubber-band fights,” Krista acknowledges good-naturedly.

Soon, the Davises will complete purchase of the fourth-generation family business – Standard Digital Print at 256 W. Riverside Ave. – from Krista’s parents, Steven and Kathy Lundberg.

During a recent interview, the Davises discussed how the business has evolved, what lessons they learned from the recession, and the challenge of working side by side in a “maxed out” modern printing facility.

S-R: How many family members work here?

Krista: Counting us, three. My mom works here, but my dad – the company president – is retired. Leon is vice president and general manager, I’m treasurer, and my mom is secretary.

S-R: What’s your earliest recollection of the family business?

Krista: Being a kid running around, terrorizing things. When I was growing up, the shop was a couple of blocks over on west Sprague, and my brother and I used to come there all the time.

S-R: What was your first job here?

Krista: Probably sweeping the floor and cleaning the bathroom. Later, when I attended LC, I’d walk down after school and run copies.

S-R: Did you always assume this is where you’d end up?

Krista: Part of me did, because I like the family history of it. I’m sentimental.

S-R: What services did the business provide a century ago?

Krista: It was mostly blueprints back then. The process was labor-intensive – almost like developing a large photograph.

S-R: Did your grandparents work here when you were young?

Krista: My dad’s father – Jim Lundberg – worked as a salesman until his late 70s, and I enjoyed seeing him every day.

S-R: What business wisdom has passed down from generation to generation?

Krista: Make sure the customer is always happy.

S-R: Is the customer always happy?

Krista: No. (laugh) But we try our best.

S-R: Did you two meet on the job?

Leon: Sort of. A previous employee introduced us.

S-R: Did you have another career before joining Standard Digital?

Leon: I worked for Walt’s Mailing Service out in the Valley.

S-R: Did any skills from that job transfer to this one?

Leon: Yes. In the mailing industry we did a lot of high-speed inkjet printing and I worked on that equipment. Now I maintain all the machines here and train employees on new equipment.

S-R: Krista, how has the business evolved since you joined the company full time 15 years ago?

Krista: We used to have the loud old blueline machines back then, and the ammonia smell. The digital era has changed a lot. But the machinery can still get pretty loud – particularly the big flatbed printer that makes wall décor.

Leon: We’re also seeing a transition from black-and-white construction plans to full color, with each design discipline color-coded.

S-R: Has digital printing helped or hurt your profit margin?

Leon: Both, but mostly hurt. A lot of (digital) Adobe files are passed around without ever getting printed.

S-R: What new products are catching on?

Leon: Wall décor – giant reproductions of photos and logos. It’s a 54-inch-wide heavy vinyl product that’s applied like wallpaper. You can see examples downtown at Nudo, Fire and The Volstead Act, and at Sweeto Burrito and PEMCO Insurance in the Valley.

S-R: Did the recession have much impact on your business?

Leon: It did. We went from 25 employees in 2005 down to nine in 2010, mainly because construction projects were few and far between. The recession also forced a lot of clients to rethink their printing needs. They passed around digital files instead of ordering full-size prints. We’re finding that the older generation still wants hard copies in their hands, and the younger generation wants PDF files on their thumbdrive.

S-R: What else has impacted business?

Krista: Online competition has cut into our sales. People who want business cards say they can get them way cheaper online.

Leon: But they don’t get the one-on-one proofing or layout – the critiquing they would have with us.

S-R: Is wall décor available online?

Leon: You really can’t just order it, have it sent to you and put it up yourself. It takes a certified wallpaper hanger to do it. So besides being printers, we’ve become project managers to make sure everything flows smoothly.

S-R: Have you ever worried the business might fail?

Leon: Always.

Krista: Every day. (laugh)

S-R: What did the recession teach you?

Leon: A lot. We used to have so much work that we were sloppy with money. If we wanted a piece of equipment, we’d buy it. If we needed another employee, we’d hire them. During the recession, we started paying more attention to how many employees and machines we need, what software we need, how much money we can spend and whose hours we can cut, if necessary.

S-R: How many hours a week do you work?

Leon: Usually a minimum of 40, and as much as 60 or 65. Sometimes we’re here at night. Sometimes we’re here on the weekend. Krista comes in early – maybe 5 a.m. – to get things done before the phone rings.

S-R: Is there a busiest time of year?

Leon: Spring through early fall, when a lot of projects break ground.

S-R: What do you like most about your job?

Leon: The challenges we face are different every single day. Whether it’s the employee, the customer or the job, it’s never the same.

Krista: I agree. And I enjoy the neat projects that come through the door.

S-R: What do you like least?

Leon: The long hours and constant interruptions. It seems like you’re doing 100 things all the time. You can never focus on one thing too long.

Krista: And if a project goes wrong, I usually take it really hard.

S-R: You grew up in the business. What’s been the biggest surprise?

Krista: I didn’t realize how much stress I’d carry with me all the time.

S-R: What surprises customers?

Leon: Three or four times a week, a customer is shocked when they see the end product, like how we’re able to take a tiny old family photo that had coffee or tea spilled on it, clean it up and enlarge it, or restore once-vibrant colors that had faded.

S-R: What question do you get a lot?

Leon: “How big can you print?”

S-R: And the answer?

Leon: We can print 64 inches wide, full bleed (edge to edge without borders). And we can print on metal, glass, plastic, doors, tiles – almost anything – up to 2 inches thick.

S-R: What do you wish you’d done differently?

Leon: Probably travel more when we first got into the business. It’s very difficult to get away now.

S-R: Do you have local competition?

Leon: We have head-to-head competitors, but I think we’re the most diversified print shop in this niche.

S-R: What trends are you trying to stay ahead of?

Leon: Three-dimensional printing, for one. I just got off the phone with a dealer out of Seattle trying to sell us one.

S-R: How much do 3-D printers cost?

Leon: Anywhere from personal models for $5,000 to the production size we’d need, which exceeds $80,000.

S-R: What’s the outlook for this industry?

Leon: Really good. We’re starting to hire more employees. And we’re getting close to acquiring the business (from Krista’s parents). We’ve been working on the transition since 2003, and now the bank finally has the paperwork.

S-R: What qualities do you look for in employees?

Leon: People who like to learn, troubleshoot and resolve issues quickly. And they have to be outgoing, because our employees not only run the equipment – they also answer the phone and work with customers.

S-R: What challenges lie ahead?

Krista: Working together. (laugh)

Leon: Yeah, that’s the big one – sharing very limited office space. Out on the floor, we try not to conflict on projects. And at home we avoid talking about work, because that can lead to an argument.

S-R: Any big changes on the horizon?

Leon: We’ve outgrown our building, and are considering opening satellite sites to spread out the equipment.

S-R: What advice would you offer someone interested in a printing career?

Leon: Do your homework. Move around. See how different companies operate. Success depends on having a well-oiled process, because there are so many steps from start to finish.