Wide Format Imaging

Today, running a family-owned business presents unique challenges over and above the usual problems a large or small business faces. That's why national stats show that only one in three family businesses survive to the next generation. These numbers could be true for the reprographic industry. Some family-owned shops haven't successfully weathered the storm of the digital revolution over the past few years and have gone out of business. Thomas Reprographics Inc. is one of the most successful family-owned operations that has withstood the test of time and continues to grow through key acquisitions and by adding the right mix of people and digital technology and services. For their years of success and innovative contributions to the marketplace, Wide-Format Imaging has selected this outstanding output provider as its "Reprographic Shop of the Year."

Thomas Reprographics Inc., a 52 year old family-owned company, is the one of the largest reprographics companies in the US. The company has locations in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Phoenix, Tucson, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Florida; and employs more than 900 employees nationally.

The Thomas family decided many years ago that passing the company business down is a driving force behind the overall vision of Thomas Reprographics. As a third generation company, they recognized the challenges of passing the company on and have implemented several initiatives this past year to insure continued positive growth, strong leadership, and healthy profits.

Today the company is run day to day by president Bryan Thomas, grandson of the founder. Wide-Format Imaging spoke with Bryan just as he was completing their latest acquisition of Winter Park Blue, a second-generation print solutions company in Orlando, FL. "The Winter Park Blue acquisition significantly strengthens our presence in the Florida market," says Bryan Thomas. "We are pleased that Bob Niemi will continue to run the Orlando division. The 60+ employees with the Winter Park Blue team will be a great addition to the Thomas Reprographics family of companies," he notes.

"We have been in the Southeast Florida market for over two years and we wanted to expand our footprint to better serve our customer base in that region. Orlando was an obvious choice and Bob's company fit exactly what we were looking for," explains Bryan.

Smart Acquisitions

In 2007, Thomas Reprographics faced new opportunities when they acquired Houston's A & E - The Graphics Complex—its largest purchase to date. The acquisition brought in 250 new employees and a projected increase of 40 percent in sales volume.

The company's model has often followed a pattern of acquiring family companies that share similar values and principles of hard work and customer service. "In the last decade, we have purchased over ten family-owned companies with most family members staying on to work with us, many in key leadership roles," says Bryan.