Local print shop celebrates expansion with ribbon-cutting and open house
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IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce and members of the community gathered at Falls Printing Thursday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting outside its new building at 190 1st Street.
The commercial printing company acquired the space formerly occupied by the Liquor Store this summer after sharing the building for many years. After several months of renovation, owner Jason Harris tells EastIdahoNews.com they’re excited to now have all their production staff and equipment in the same location.
“We’ve wanted this for a long time. As soon as it became available, we jumped on it,” Harris says. “We had a second location downtown. We closed that and moved here so now we’re all together under one roof.”
Members of the community were able to tour the building during an open house. One purpose was to showcase the company’s new digital printer, which Harris says is a “game-changer” that will allow them to cater to customers more effectively by saving them time and money.
“In the past, customers would come to us and say they wanted a 58-page magazine, but they only wanted 150 of them. In order for it to be cost-effective, they’d have to print 3,000 of them (because that’s what the printer was designed to do),” Operations Manager Sandon Wixom says.
The quality of the old press is “second to none,” Harris says, but it’s a 7-step process performed on several different machines and takes a week to complete. The digital printer is designed to print smaller orders on the same device and have it completed in just a few hours without sacrificing quality.
The old presses are still the best method for filling large orders, Harris says, and will continue to be used going forward.
See how it works in the video player above.
Harris Publishing is the parent company of Falls Printing, which publishes several different magazines such as Idaho Falls Magazine, Potato Grower and Sugar Producer. It prints a variety of materials for clients throughout eastern Idaho, including catalogs, newsletters, brochures, business cards, flyers, posters, banners, signage, apparel, mugs and more.
The ability to upload documents online and print them at your convenience has become an increasingly popular trend in recent years. Though this trend resulted in an initial decline in printing sales, Wixom says it also created a need for great customer service.
“If your project (doesn’t meet certain specifications), you can’t print it and that can be frustrating,” Wixom says. “We have that customer service edge where you send us a file and we’ll send you a proof back. We’re able to interact and (provide feedback to help you.)”
They also have special inks and dyes that many print shops in the area don’t have, Wixom says.
Adapting to these changes has allowed the business to continually evolve and grow over the years.
Falls Printing got its start as a black and white photocopy shop in 1954. Blain Morgan and Bart Ingraham owned it for more than 30 years before selling it to Jim Foster. The Harris family purchased it in 2004.
After 66 years of business, Harris is grateful to have an expanded building in which to serve customers and he’s looking forward to many more years of business in eastern Idaho.
“All credit goes to the great staff that we have. This space is something they’ve been pushing for and wanting. That press is something they’ve been wanting because they know what our customers need,” he says. “I’m so happy for this business and how it can serve this community.”
Falls Printing is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visit the website or Facebook page to learn more.
