Help Tom retire! Pass this info along!
TO OUR MUCH LOVED AND LOYAL CUSTOMERS:
No worries, WE AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE & WE ARE NOT CLOSING -- we are still here busy working, ready to service all your printing, graphic, apparel and signage needs!!! And we will be here at the ready until new owners are fully trained in -- so please rest assured... WE ARE and WILL BE HERE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS! ❤
We love it up here in the Copper Country and plan to stay in this area, but we need life to slow down soon. My husband is 74 years old and would like to retire, he started the shop in 1976 and it's time to hand the reins over to someone younger with more energy. This business can continue for many, many more years under the right leadership. In the past we had 10 of us on staff, there is no reason the business could not grow to have a large staff again, but it requires owners with drive and ambition for the future (and not an eye on retirement). Currently there are 4 of us working at the shop, 6 would be better.
Once the shop sells we will do everything we can to ensure there is no downtime and that your deadlines will be met during the transition. There will be a certain overlap/training time with the new owner's. How long that will last will depend on the set of skills and aptitudes these new owners would have (we would estimate a minimum of 3 months even for someone that is experienced in our field).
After the initial training time, Tom will be available for the new owners to hire as a consultant (engineering jobs, quoting, etc.).
Our staff has expressed to us that they would really like to stay with The Print Shop and work for the new owners.
I am younger then Tom, and not completely ready to retire, I could work for the new owners part-time as an off-site/remote graphic artist* (in addition to the shop having a full-time onsite layout person/file jockey, that I would be happy to help hire and train in) and I could also work as a consultant for them (for file jockeying, Mac computer IT person, engineering jobs, quoting, etc.). *Sadly the creative services of graphic designers are rarely requested nowadays, as many customers try to submit their own "print-ready" layouts, so any person that would work in the Art Dept. will spend much of their time coaching customers on how to create layouts that work with our system/equipment (for a fee) as well as spending time correcting their files (for a fee) or recreating their project and ideas to meet our specs (for a fee), my skills as a designer are rarely put to use, and therefore could be handled by a off-site designer on a per project basis.
We will all do our part to get the new owner up to speed while keeping things running as smoothly as possible -- making this a very easy business/new trade for someone to transition into.
Want to learn a new Trade and become Self-Employed at the same time?
Good with numbers? Able to Engineering projects? Are You a People-Person? = GREAT!
(owner does not need to be creative)
NEW OWNER GETS THE FOLLOWING:
• A busy, existing production facility with a consistent flow of work
• Physical, hard copy files and computer files ready for all the REPEAT ORDERS!
• All our specialized manufacturing equipment, software and computers required for all in-house work.
• Long established, good-standing distributorships with industry suppliers for speciality products.
• All our resource information and contacts with trade associates who produce custom work for us.
• Supplier contacts for wholesale papers, envelopes, sign materials, press supplies, etc
• All supplies in inventory for each of our different departments.
• Keep our phone numbers, fax and email addresses and YOU WILL BE KEPT BUSY!
• Rent from us to keep this location and you will have plenty of “walk-in” customers too!
• We are only selling because after 46 years of running the shop Tom would like to retire.
• Existing staff would like to stay on and work for the new owner.
• TRAINING! Combined Tom and Bj have 94 years experience in the field for
you to benefit from. Plus they will remain available to advise and help.
ABOUT THE SHOP:
Established in 1976 as a full-service quick-printer and commercial printing facility, The Print Shop services clients primarily, though not exclusively, in the Western Upper Michigan area.
The shop's on-sight manufacturing processes include traditional offset as well as full-color digital printing, full bindery services (folding, laminating, numbering, automated booklet making, hydraulic paper cutters, wire stitching, spiral binding, etc), large format Giclée artist prints, sign and banner work and heat pressed apparel. We also have a fully qualified art department to fulfill all your graphic design and forms creation needs, as well as "lobby services" for folks that require simple photocopies, faxing, and document scanning.
In addition to in-house manufacturing The Print Shop also has many industry suppliers and specialty houses that we work with in order to provide the local community with a virtually unlimited selection of print, sign and apparel related items.
The shop's sales and profits increased considerably in 2018 and in 2019 – and just prior to covid, we were looking at the need to increase our staff of 4 to 5 or 6 in order to accommodate the steady increase in work. Industry analysts are seeing indicators where that type of trend will continue even though we all had rough patches during the pandemic. Many businesses in our industry didn't survive the pandemic, yet our shop weathered throught and remains strong. Starting in the spring of 2021 and continuing through summer of 2022 our staff of was consistently over-booked and regularly having to turn work away, even tho we were able to do the work of 5-6 people at times (because of our high skill level as well as with overtime hours). During this time we were actively seeking a new staff person and in late summer of 2022 we hired a new employee to oversee "Lobby Services" as well as assisting as an order clerk and in production.
Business is good, this is very much a going-concern.
The majority of our work comes from companies that call, email and fax in orders, and with many repeat orders that kept our staff busy even during the height of the pandemic when "walk-in" customers were sparse.
We remained in operation during the pandemic only closing for the first day of the governor's shut down (as we service local government and medical facilities and needed to be available for covid related work). Initially we had the "walk-in" clients stay outdoors while we serviced them, and eventually we built an indoor vestibule inside our large lobby to keep everyone safe (and warm in the winter too). Pics of the construction of the vestibule can be seen on my Facebook page.
Currently the business is housed in our own building. The building is officially owned by Litsenberger, LLC Commercial & Residential Rentals (we house 3 commercial ventures total, as well as 2 large apartments, with space to add more rentals once we have some free time to do so). We would be eager to rent to the new owners of The Print Shop. This current facility would easily handle a large volume of employees, with room to expand services and added equipment too. More details about this rental space is below.
We have complete financials and can provide details for your review, in exchange will ask for the same from you (with a signed Disclosure Agreement between us of course). To learn what type of information we would need to see from a perspective buyer, please review this article "Preparing for Due Diligence - What Sellers Will Ask Buyers" (copy of it also posted here incase that link goes down).
FOR MORE INFO:
• Check out our Facebook page (got to Photos section for quickest overview)
• There is a quickly made Virtual Tour of the shop here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUX4A5-7MZk&t=8s
• Please contact me (B.J.) at artist@906print.com if you are interested in checking out this great opportunity.
OUR ASKING PRICE:
PRICE for the BUSINESS ONLY (does NOT including the building) -- $245,000
Please be aware, we did not invent the asking price on our own. We hired the services of a professional business evaluator who closely reviewed our financials and other information. Our asking price was later confirmed by an industry specialist.
However, we are open and eager to be presented with any reasonable offers.
PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL NOT BE OFFERING SELLER FINANCING, YOU MUST PURCHASE THE SHOP OUTRIGHT
OUR CURRENT RENTAL SPACE:
In 2005 the Litsenberger’s purchased this 19,950 sq ft building, in part to house The Print Shop, and in part to start a rental business (currently having 4 other renters besides the shop in this building). They had all new electrical service brought in (including a new transformer for the manufacturing aspect of the shop) as well as all new fresh water plumbing (except for the 2 apartments which were inspected and found to be ok as-is, they were last updated in the 1990's). The heating system was brought up to code with all new duct work, and since then 2 of the 5 furnaces have been replaced with Energy Star ones (in 2009 and in 2017). A shared hallway was built allowing patrons to enter the building from the parking deck. Other major renovations were also done to improve the quality of the building and preserve it's historical features.
The Print Shop, lobby, offices and art dept., currently on the 224 Shelden Avenue level, total of approx. 3,325 sq ft office space), and the pressroom, dark room, sign dept. and loading dock, currently located on the lower level at 225 E Lakeshore Drive is housed in approx. 2,808 of manufacturing space), for an approx. 5,373 sq ft. combined.
The Print Shop has a 52'x28' pressroom with superior overhead lighting, 220 and 110 volt, and utility sink. Other rooms on this lower level include their darkroom, sign department, shipping/receiving as well as undeveloped spaces. Concrete flooring is throughout most of this level and is capable of handling heavy equipment.
There is room on the Lakeshore Drive level, in the currently undeveloped spaces, for The Print Shop to expand or create new services. We have considered condensing the footprint of existing departments on that level in order to create additional rental income space(s), however, if this has not been done prior to the sale of The Print Shop the new owner would naturally have the option to retain the full current space.
225 East Lakeshore Drive has 2 entry doors (one is ADA), the loading dock and has 6 windows, 5 facing the Portage Canal.
The Shelden Avenue level is accessible from both Shelden Avenue (ADA) and from the Upper Parking Deck accessed via a shared hallway, where there is a shared ADA compliant public rest room. The shop has 2 private bathrooms (one on each floor) and a kitchenette.
The space is rented to ourselves at a "family" rate of $1,700.00 per month. A casual lease is obviously in place as we are our own landlords, if someone new were to purchase the shop and would want to continue to rent this space we would negotiate a proper rental price and write up a lease with them, same as what our other renters have with us.
Please note: the building is NOT for sale. We are wanting to sell The Print Shop so Tom can retire, we have zero need or desire to sell the building ~ we actually have plans to do more work on it once the shop is sold. So thank you in advance for not pressuring us to sell our building to you, many have tried to do so but it simply is not for sale at this time, only The Print Shop is.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD:
We are on main street in the historic and busy small town of Houghton Michigan, which is loaded with quaint gift shops and quality restaurants -- with constant foot traffic and US41's through traffic -- our's is a highly visible storefront/brick and mortar business. We are just one block from the famous Portage Lake Lift Bridge in the beautiful Copper Country of Upper Michigan. Houghton is a great community adjacent to Michigan Technological University, which offers much to our community. We also have another university and a college in our area, plus many historical attractions, as well as many fitness/atv trails, Lake Superior's variety of beaches, ski hills, great boating, fishing, plus a vibrant arts culture, tons of great eateries and a thriving business community.
Our's is a solid business in a burgeoning small town in a beautiful part of the USA. We will give you all the tools you need to be at least as successful with the business as we have been (but we do imagine any new younger owner will actually take the business farther)
As a customer recently said: "The table is set, all they have to do is sit down to it" ~
=) Bj
No worries, WE AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE & WE ARE NOT CLOSING -- we are still here busy working, ready to service all your printing, graphic, apparel and signage needs!!! And we will be here at the ready until new owners are fully trained in -- so please rest assured... WE ARE and WILL BE HERE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS! ❤
We love it up here in the Copper Country and plan to stay in this area, but we need life to slow down soon. My husband is 74 years old and would like to retire, he started the shop in 1976 and it's time to hand the reins over to someone younger with more energy. This business can continue for many, many more years under the right leadership. In the past we had 10 of us on staff, there is no reason the business could not grow to have a large staff again, but it requires owners with drive and ambition for the future (and not an eye on retirement). Currently there are 4 of us working at the shop, 6 would be better.
Once the shop sells we will do everything we can to ensure there is no downtime and that your deadlines will be met during the transition. There will be a certain overlap/training time with the new owner's. How long that will last will depend on the set of skills and aptitudes these new owners would have (we would estimate a minimum of 3 months even for someone that is experienced in our field).
After the initial training time, Tom will be available for the new owners to hire as a consultant (engineering jobs, quoting, etc.).
Our staff has expressed to us that they would really like to stay with The Print Shop and work for the new owners.
I am younger then Tom, and not completely ready to retire, I could work for the new owners part-time as an off-site/remote graphic artist* (in addition to the shop having a full-time onsite layout person/file jockey, that I would be happy to help hire and train in) and I could also work as a consultant for them (for file jockeying, Mac computer IT person, engineering jobs, quoting, etc.). *Sadly the creative services of graphic designers are rarely requested nowadays, as many customers try to submit their own "print-ready" layouts, so any person that would work in the Art Dept. will spend much of their time coaching customers on how to create layouts that work with our system/equipment (for a fee) as well as spending time correcting their files (for a fee) or recreating their project and ideas to meet our specs (for a fee), my skills as a designer are rarely put to use, and therefore could be handled by a off-site designer on a per project basis.
We will all do our part to get the new owner up to speed while keeping things running as smoothly as possible -- making this a very easy business/new trade for someone to transition into.
Want to learn a new Trade and become Self-Employed at the same time?
Good with numbers? Able to Engineering projects? Are You a People-Person? = GREAT!
(owner does not need to be creative)
NEW OWNER GETS THE FOLLOWING:
• A busy, existing production facility with a consistent flow of work
• Physical, hard copy files and computer files ready for all the REPEAT ORDERS!
• All our specialized manufacturing equipment, software and computers required for all in-house work.
• Long established, good-standing distributorships with industry suppliers for speciality products.
• All our resource information and contacts with trade associates who produce custom work for us.
• Supplier contacts for wholesale papers, envelopes, sign materials, press supplies, etc
• All supplies in inventory for each of our different departments.
• Keep our phone numbers, fax and email addresses and YOU WILL BE KEPT BUSY!
• Rent from us to keep this location and you will have plenty of “walk-in” customers too!
• We are only selling because after 46 years of running the shop Tom would like to retire.
• Existing staff would like to stay on and work for the new owner.
• TRAINING! Combined Tom and Bj have 94 years experience in the field for
you to benefit from. Plus they will remain available to advise and help.
ABOUT THE SHOP:
Established in 1976 as a full-service quick-printer and commercial printing facility, The Print Shop services clients primarily, though not exclusively, in the Western Upper Michigan area.
The shop's on-sight manufacturing processes include traditional offset as well as full-color digital printing, full bindery services (folding, laminating, numbering, automated booklet making, hydraulic paper cutters, wire stitching, spiral binding, etc), large format Giclée artist prints, sign and banner work and heat pressed apparel. We also have a fully qualified art department to fulfill all your graphic design and forms creation needs, as well as "lobby services" for folks that require simple photocopies, faxing, and document scanning.
In addition to in-house manufacturing The Print Shop also has many industry suppliers and specialty houses that we work with in order to provide the local community with a virtually unlimited selection of print, sign and apparel related items.
The shop's sales and profits increased considerably in 2018 and in 2019 – and just prior to covid, we were looking at the need to increase our staff of 4 to 5 or 6 in order to accommodate the steady increase in work. Industry analysts are seeing indicators where that type of trend will continue even though we all had rough patches during the pandemic. Many businesses in our industry didn't survive the pandemic, yet our shop weathered throught and remains strong. Starting in the spring of 2021 and continuing through summer of 2022 our staff of was consistently over-booked and regularly having to turn work away, even tho we were able to do the work of 5-6 people at times (because of our high skill level as well as with overtime hours). During this time we were actively seeking a new staff person and in late summer of 2022 we hired a new employee to oversee "Lobby Services" as well as assisting as an order clerk and in production.
Business is good, this is very much a going-concern.
The majority of our work comes from companies that call, email and fax in orders, and with many repeat orders that kept our staff busy even during the height of the pandemic when "walk-in" customers were sparse.
We remained in operation during the pandemic only closing for the first day of the governor's shut down (as we service local government and medical facilities and needed to be available for covid related work). Initially we had the "walk-in" clients stay outdoors while we serviced them, and eventually we built an indoor vestibule inside our large lobby to keep everyone safe (and warm in the winter too). Pics of the construction of the vestibule can be seen on my Facebook page.
Currently the business is housed in our own building. The building is officially owned by Litsenberger, LLC Commercial & Residential Rentals (we house 3 commercial ventures total, as well as 2 large apartments, with space to add more rentals once we have some free time to do so). We would be eager to rent to the new owners of The Print Shop. This current facility would easily handle a large volume of employees, with room to expand services and added equipment too. More details about this rental space is below.
We have complete financials and can provide details for your review, in exchange will ask for the same from you (with a signed Disclosure Agreement between us of course). To learn what type of information we would need to see from a perspective buyer, please review this article "Preparing for Due Diligence - What Sellers Will Ask Buyers" (copy of it also posted here incase that link goes down).
FOR MORE INFO:
• Check out our Facebook page (got to Photos section for quickest overview)
• There is a quickly made Virtual Tour of the shop here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUX4A5-7MZk&t=8s
• Please contact me (B.J.) at artist@906print.com if you are interested in checking out this great opportunity.
OUR ASKING PRICE:
PRICE for the BUSINESS ONLY (does NOT including the building) -- $245,000
Please be aware, we did not invent the asking price on our own. We hired the services of a professional business evaluator who closely reviewed our financials and other information. Our asking price was later confirmed by an industry specialist.
However, we are open and eager to be presented with any reasonable offers.
PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL NOT BE OFFERING SELLER FINANCING, YOU MUST PURCHASE THE SHOP OUTRIGHT
OUR CURRENT RENTAL SPACE:
In 2005 the Litsenberger’s purchased this 19,950 sq ft building, in part to house The Print Shop, and in part to start a rental business (currently having 4 other renters besides the shop in this building). They had all new electrical service brought in (including a new transformer for the manufacturing aspect of the shop) as well as all new fresh water plumbing (except for the 2 apartments which were inspected and found to be ok as-is, they were last updated in the 1990's). The heating system was brought up to code with all new duct work, and since then 2 of the 5 furnaces have been replaced with Energy Star ones (in 2009 and in 2017). A shared hallway was built allowing patrons to enter the building from the parking deck. Other major renovations were also done to improve the quality of the building and preserve it's historical features.
The Print Shop, lobby, offices and art dept., currently on the 224 Shelden Avenue level, total of approx. 3,325 sq ft office space), and the pressroom, dark room, sign dept. and loading dock, currently located on the lower level at 225 E Lakeshore Drive is housed in approx. 2,808 of manufacturing space), for an approx. 5,373 sq ft. combined.
The Print Shop has a 52'x28' pressroom with superior overhead lighting, 220 and 110 volt, and utility sink. Other rooms on this lower level include their darkroom, sign department, shipping/receiving as well as undeveloped spaces. Concrete flooring is throughout most of this level and is capable of handling heavy equipment.
There is room on the Lakeshore Drive level, in the currently undeveloped spaces, for The Print Shop to expand or create new services. We have considered condensing the footprint of existing departments on that level in order to create additional rental income space(s), however, if this has not been done prior to the sale of The Print Shop the new owner would naturally have the option to retain the full current space.
225 East Lakeshore Drive has 2 entry doors (one is ADA), the loading dock and has 6 windows, 5 facing the Portage Canal.
The Shelden Avenue level is accessible from both Shelden Avenue (ADA) and from the Upper Parking Deck accessed via a shared hallway, where there is a shared ADA compliant public rest room. The shop has 2 private bathrooms (one on each floor) and a kitchenette.
The space is rented to ourselves at a "family" rate of $1,700.00 per month. A casual lease is obviously in place as we are our own landlords, if someone new were to purchase the shop and would want to continue to rent this space we would negotiate a proper rental price and write up a lease with them, same as what our other renters have with us.
Please note: the building is NOT for sale. We are wanting to sell The Print Shop so Tom can retire, we have zero need or desire to sell the building ~ we actually have plans to do more work on it once the shop is sold. So thank you in advance for not pressuring us to sell our building to you, many have tried to do so but it simply is not for sale at this time, only The Print Shop is.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD:
We are on main street in the historic and busy small town of Houghton Michigan, which is loaded with quaint gift shops and quality restaurants -- with constant foot traffic and US41's through traffic -- our's is a highly visible storefront/brick and mortar business. We are just one block from the famous Portage Lake Lift Bridge in the beautiful Copper Country of Upper Michigan. Houghton is a great community adjacent to Michigan Technological University, which offers much to our community. We also have another university and a college in our area, plus many historical attractions, as well as many fitness/atv trails, Lake Superior's variety of beaches, ski hills, great boating, fishing, plus a vibrant arts culture, tons of great eateries and a thriving business community.
Our's is a solid business in a burgeoning small town in a beautiful part of the USA. We will give you all the tools you need to be at least as successful with the business as we have been (but we do imagine any new younger owner will actually take the business farther)
As a customer recently said: "The table is set, all they have to do is sit down to it" ~
=) Bj