Putting a stamp on it
Product range has grown during century in business
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/09/2011 (5262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
In a modest production plant just off Dublin Avenue, a century-old Winnipeg company continues to find success producing a blend of products ranging from old-school rubber stamps to new-age digital posters.
CanMark Industries Ltd. owner Terry Bias said diversification is one of the main reasons CanMark is around to celebrate its 100th year in business this year.
Originally known as The Canadian Stamp Company, the firm started in 1911 producing custom-made rubber stamps, inks, brass stencils, and corporate seals.
Over the years, it expanded its product line to include things such as commercial inks, name tags, door plates and desk signs. And more recently, through the acquisition of two other local companies, it added digital print materials, trade show displays and interior and exterior signs.
Bias said during a tour of CanMark’s 6,000-square-foot factory that demand for old-school products — rubber stamps, brass stencils and corporate seals — isn’t what it used to be.
But they still account for about 40 per cent of its revenues, he added, so they won’t disappear from the factory floor.
“They’re still used, although the volume of stamps is slowly declining,” he said. “And we still do five to 10 new (corporate) seals every morning… which surprises the hell out of me. It’s such an old product but people still need it.”
Some of the company’s best-sellers are the products it added about 35 years ago.
“We do name tags by the thousands, as well as door plates and desk signs.”
It was the acquisition of Pixel 8 Color Graphics six years ago and Letterall Signs in 2009 that enabled CanMark to expand into the digital printing and corporate signage business. Pixel 8’s products include posters, business cards, brochures, newsletters, and trade-show displays. And Letterall manufactures in both interior and exterior signs.
Both are housed in CanMark’s Midland Street plant, which is located just off the corner of Dublin and Notre Dame avenues.
“That’s one of the reasons it works. We were able to fit them into our location and reduce the overhead,” Bias said.
About 95 per cent of CanMark’s customers are corporations that run the gamut from financial institutions to egg producers.
One of its long-time customers is Cormer Aerospace. Buyer Barbara Jarosiewicz said: “Often times, we’ve had to order at the last minute, and they (CanMark) have been able to provide us with fantastic, courteous service.”
murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca