Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451370
2 0 2 2 • WRAPS • 45 G R A PH I C S - PR O.C O M manager for a local sign shop to learn the trade and eventually purchase the business. When things didn't work out as planned, he and Heather researched franchise sign companies. OPENING A SIGNARAMA FRANCHISE Two months after interviewing with Sig- narama, Kincaid and Heather opened a franchise and immediately started sell- ing sign and wrap products out of a 2,200-square-foot space in a shopping plaza. Three years later, he moved to a larger space spanning 7,700 square feet on a 2.5-acre property within an indus- trial park. "We do everything, but wraps are our No. 1 seller, very close to installs," Kin- caid notes. He wanted to specialize in wraps af- ter seeing his competition didn't do them correctly, lacking the training and certications. He started with a 25-foot bay in his rst shop, expanding to two 75-foot bays with enough space to do full wraps and wrap large vehicles, like an 18-wheeler for Marshall University's football team in Huntington, West Virginia. He started with a staff of three that has since grown to 12, including three salespeople and two install crews with staff cross-trained, and expanded from one truck to four for outside installations. "We really expanded the wrap enterprise," says Anthony Carter, lead designer and production manager for Signarama River Cities. "Instead of doing one wrap at time, we can have two to three going on at the same time." Signarama River Cities offers anything from vehicle decals to full wraps. "We do everything. If you want a picture of your dog on the side, we'll gure out a way to put that on your vehicle," Carter says. "As far as wraps go, it really is only limited to the customer's imagination." BECOMING AVERY DENNISON CERTIFIED After being in operation for 1 ½ years, the franchise became an Avery Dennison Certied Wrap Shop, working with one of the leading top wrap lines that sets the standard for the industry. Approximately 500 installers have passed the certication so far, becoming "elite wrappers," Carter says, among the thou- sands that test. "It is considered to be one of the hard- est accolades to get," Kincaid notes. "It's just very, very strenuous and detail-ori- ented about how you wrap and nish the product." Kincaid and his staff trained on install- ing wraps with clean lines and surfaces without any warping of the vinyl material. "Designing a wrap with all one piece and no overlay is extremely difficult. No one does it as well as we do," Carter says, explaining that a full wrap exceeds the quality of a base wrap with stickers installed on top. "Everything we do is printed in-house. We don't do overlays here."