Two great businesses that go great together
By CHUCK BALLARO
The two companies are a match made in heaven; All American Printing and Signarama, and both have the same purpose of helping businesses promote themselves with products that help them get attention.
Bruce and Darlene Vanderveen have been at the wheel of this business since they first opened as a franchise in 1990, and with the exception of four years they worked out of South Fort Myers, have been based in North Fort Myers.
The pairing of the two businesses makes perfect sense, Bruce said.
“It’s a perfect mix with the two businesses. When you order printing, you order signs. When you open a new business, you order signs for the window, the building, get business cards and it all falls into one area,” Bruce said.
Bruce had the printing background, which is what he did when he worked for the Ford Motor Company in Michigan, printing the “Blue Letters” that Henry Ford II sent. Darlene worked for General Motors.
In 1990, the couple walked away from the car business to try their luck in Florida and started their own business and forge their own destiny.
After working with the franchise for nearly 20 years, they went independent in 2010 and joined forces with Signarama in 2012.
This allowed them to not only print up company letterhead and cards, but when they learned about the sign business, it becomes a one-stop shop for these very important needs.
“We saw that as our business was growing we needed to expand and signage was one of the way,” Darlene said. “We didn’t know anything about them, so we decided to learn about them.”
Signarama does monument signs, banners, backlit and channel lit signs, custom graphics and logos, digital graphics and more.
All American Printing, which won a “Best of” award in 2016 for best Printer & Sign company, features full-color printing, signs, fliers, business cards, custom flags, blueprints, brochures, booklets, color copies and envelopes.
Bruce said their faith had been the key to success, as well as being fair and honest with their clients, some of whom have worked with them since they opened.
“Do what you say you’re going to do and try to be on time. That’s why we do everything in house because we can control the quality and timing,” Bruce said.
All American Printing and Signarama are at 4621 Bayshore Road and are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call Signarama at 791-8810 or go to signarama-fortmyersnorth.com or All American Printing at 225-2198 or allamericanprinting.us.