New York Printers — One State, Two Worlds

“We’ve reinvented ourselves; we’re also a major marketing company,” Saperstein says. “We take a job from concept to completion with the help of our staff of on-site designers, so we’re in on the ground floor with customers. That has been the key—helping (clients) develop, market and print their ideas.”

The knock on printing for a long time has been the lack of skilled employees, but print buyers are often lacking in the most basic of knowledge. In the end, it’s the printer who is left to do a majority of the hand-holding and guiding on jobs.

“You’re getting people asking you for things when they have no idea what they’re asking for,” Saperstein reveals. “So you need to educate them.”

Time is certainly the enemy of the NYC printer. Saperstein, with 30 years under his belt, fondly recalls the days when customers would come to him with ample turnaround time requests. While quick turn time is an epidemic throughout the industry, it’s greatly magnified for companies like American Print Solutions.

“It’s a different ball game, and you’d better be on your toes and have the ability to produce work fast, or you’ll have problems,” he says. “That’s the challenge this market presents.”

Prestone Printing enjoys a large client base in the New York metropolitan area. The Brooklyn-based printer can tap a variety of sources for outside work and reaps the benefits of proximity to mass transit, clients and vendors, reports company President Rob Adler. The result is a low carbon footprint and lower fuel costs.

“We were fortunate to get assistance from the City of New York’s EDO Printer’s Fund and tax abatements from the Industrial Development Authority when we moved our facility because we stayed in the city,” Adler notes.

Doing business in the city offers plenty of challenges, led by astronomical real estate prices (Prestone now owns its building). Aside from high electricity and utility costs, perhaps one of the biggest obstacles is the reluctance of suburban workers from New Jersey and Connecticut to commute to work.