For the ‘Love’ of kids, football and giving back
Making a Difference: Keeping a father’s legacy alive
August 19, 2024
ARCADIA – From the corner of a retail store to a two-car garage, to a from-the-ground-up building to a remodeled feed mill – Edge Graphics has had quite the growth in its nearly 20 years of existence.
“My husband, Kole, started the business in a rented space in the corner of another retail space,” Co-owner Melissa Gamez said. “He started doing vinyl work (with the business) part-time.”
The business slowly expanded – adding screen printing a few years later, which Melissa said prompted the business to relocate to their garage.
“In 2011, we built the building we’re currently in (located at 1330 E. Main St.) and added onto it a couple of times,” she said. “And now, we are just out of space.”
Though the couple wasn’t actively looking for a new location, Melissa said when the community’s former feed mill (W26001 Volds Lane) came up for sale, “Kole was in right away.”
“The building was not in great shape, so I took a little bit more convincing, but I got there, saw the vision and realized it was a great opportunity that does not come up very often,” she said. “Retail or commercial space is hard to find, and it was a great property and a great opportunity – so we made that purchase.”
Then, Melissa said, the real work began.
Being that the building on the property was a former animal feed mill, she said, “it needed a lot of work.”
“We are keeping the footprint the same, but it was a complete remodel,” she said. “Pretty much everything had to be gutted and redone top to bottom.”
Melissa said it sat vacant for more than a year before she and Kole took over.
“It was in rough shape, and it was previously used for a different purpose,” she said. “It served the purpose for what it was previously used for, however, for us, it needed a lot of work, a lot of repair and a lot of cleaning.”
Though the property required a lot of work for it to get up to what Edge Graphics needed, Melissa said the location was unbeatable.
Edge Graphics’ current location, she said, is located right on Main Street in Arcadia in a heavily trafficked area.
Though that’s good for visibility, Melissa said it’s not ideal for customer logistics.
“When trucks and trailers come to us for lettering, it can be challenging for them to get into our location,” she said. “There have been times where we have had to stop traffic on Main Street to get a truck in here – and that’s definitely not ideal.”
The new location, Melissa said, while still on “Arcadia’s main drag,” is on a service road that provides customers easy access.
“At the new property, the area where we will be doing vehicle lettering has drive-thrus – which offers a huge amount of convenience for our customers,” she said. “The location is right on the highway as you come into town, so it’s great visibility as well.”
The new space – which Kole said is about 3,000 square feet more than Edge Graphics’ current location – will also have more space dedicated to retail.
“Right now, our location doesn’t allow for us to have any type of retail item inventory on sale or available,” Melissa said. “We don’t have the space for it, and this new location gives us that.”
This, she said, will allow them to keep fan and spirit gear for some of the local schools on hand for purchase.
“Right now, we’re all custom, made-to-order,” she said. “We have a few pieces on hand if somebody needs something, but it’s not a great selection.”
Melissa said having pieces on hand for folks coming in and saying “I need clothes for the game tonight” will be a great addition to the business.
Provides opportunity
The space Edge Graphics is gaining with the move to the new property, Kole said, positions the company for continued growth in the future.
“If we ever need to add more equipment, we now have the space to do that,” he said. “If we ever need to add onto the building (at the new property), we have options to do that now.”
Though no specific plans are in the works to expand, Melissa said the new property offers the opportunity to do so, if needed in the future.
Services, products
As a one-stop, custom shop, Melissa said Edge Graphics offers a wide spectrum of services and products, including signs and banners, embroidery, screen printing, wraps and vehicle lettering and promotional items.
Additional details on each of its offerings, she said, are available on the company’s website (2edgegraphics.com).
Also available on the website, Melissa said, are online stores for group ordering – whether it’s for employees, fans or athletes.
Edge Graphics, she said, currently hosts online stores for several local businesses and organizations.
“We handle order collection, payment processing and order sorting for you,” she said.
Arcadia proud
Both natives of the region – “Kole is from Arcadia, and I am from Independence, which is eight miles up the road” – Melissa said local business is important to them.
“It means a lot to us that we are part of the local business community,” she said. “I’m a member of the local chamber of commerce and the youth association. We try really hard to be part of this community. We want to see Arcadia continue to grow and be successful.”
Melissa said many businesses call Arcadia home – from big industry to small, family owned operations.
“It’s fun to support and be a part of all of those businesses – we absolutely love it,” she said.
When they travel – whether it be a trade show or their son’s baseball tournament – Melissa said “it’s fun for us to keep track of how many vehicles we pass or see along the way that we’ve done the work for.”
“We see signs and say, ‘yep, we did that sign,’” she said. “Or we see businesses and know we’ve done clothing for them.”
Melissa said moments like those reaffirm the importance and impact Edge Graphics has had on the region.
“There was a moment this summer that was impactful,” she said. “We were at a baseball tournament for our son, and we looked up – there were two fields of games going on, so four teams – and we supplied the jerseys for every single one of those teams. We also did the fan gear and the coaches.”
Knowing Edge Graphics did that, Melissa said, “gives us a lot of pride.”
“It makes you feel really good about being a part of a small town,” she said.
Moving day
Though a specific moving day hasn’t been set, Melissa said the plan is to move into the new space before the end of the month.
“We are still holding on to the goal that we will be moving in August,” she said. “Right now, we still have some construction happening, so it’s hard to know for sure, but we’re hoping we’re in there this month – that is the plan.”
Melissa said having the current location still operating has helped eliminate some stress.
“The nice thing is, we have a current location, so we’re continuing to do business,” she said. “It’s not like we have to be in by a certain date. We can continue to function and operate. We don’t have a firm deadline. We want to make sure the building is 100% ready for us when we move.”
Melissa said the entire Edge Graphics team – five full-time employees, which includes Kole and herself (going full-time with the business about three years ago) and a handful of part-time employees – are excited to get into the new space.
