UTICA, N.Y. — A&P Master Images is putting on the finishing touches and moving equipment into its new 3,000-square-foot building at 205 Water St., which is designed to accommodate its current needs and future growth at the customization manufacturer. “There’s a lot of good stuff happening,” CEO and co-owner Howard Potter says. A&P Master Images, […]
UTICA, N.Y. — A&P Master Images is putting on the finishing touches and moving equipment into its new 3,000-square-foot building at 205 Water St., which is designed to accommodate its current needs and future growth at the customization manufacturer.
“There’s a lot of good stuff happening,” CEO and co-owner Howard Potter says.
A&P Master Images, which Potter started in his living room nearly 20 years ago, generated sales of $3.1 million last year with plans to grow at least 15 percent this year with new products and services, new clients, and expanded business with existing clients spanning 15 states and five countries.
A&P is in its third year of offering customized uniforms, a $120,000-plus investment that required the company to not only add on sewing machines but also train employees to use them.
“That’s been growing by leaps and bounds,” Potter says.
The company also invested about $60,000 in a new direct-to-film machine that prints color graphics directly onto apparel using a pre-printed film and a heat-press machine. The process has a more streamlined setup than traditional screen printing, which Potter says will allow for quicker runs as well as the ability to print smaller runs including even just one piece.
About three years ago, Potter invested in new software for building and hosting online stores for customers. The business currently hosts about 150 full-time online stores, where customers can offer up customized products that A&P produces and ships.
With increased sales, new equipment, and new product lines, A&P Master Images was bursting at the seams of its 5,400-square-foot facility at 205 Water St., Potter says. The company was able to successfully apply for a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) to fund the new $400,000 building, which will house the company’s vinyl, sublimation, 2D and 3D printing, engraving, and direct-to-film departments.
“It’s going to allow us to do more installs faster,” Potter says of the vinyl vehicle decals and wraps it produces for clients. The new space also features a storage area above the offices, further freeing up space in A&P’s main building.
Potter is in the process now of planning a remodel of its main showroom, working with the same company that built the new building — Kevin Hughes Construction, Inc. of Utica. The remodeling will allow the company to bring in more product to have more “on-the-rack” availability for items.
With a 2023 sales goal of at least $3.6 million, Potter predicts A&P Master Images may need to expand again in as soon as three years. That’s why the new building was designed so it’s easily expandable with the ability to add on to either the front or the back of it, he says. A&P owns about two acres of land along Water Street, so there’s plenty of room to grow, Potter notes.
With about 26 employees currently, A&P is also looking to hire. “We just filled two full-time positions,” Potter says, and he expects to add three to four more employees in the coming months.
A&P Master Images offers a range of customization options including embroidery, screen printing, sublimation, and vinyl, along with graphic-design services and a range of customizable promotional products.