Tobbi Stager, JS Print Group, Shares Insights About the Evolving Print World

When Johannes Gutenberg produced his metal movable-type printing press in 1450, the ramifications could not have been fully foreseen, but the printer sensed it would be significant. In conjunction with the Reformation, which spread literacy everywhere it went in order for common people to read the Holy Scriptures in their own languages, the revolution was felt worldwide.

In the same way, digital technology has transformed everything it touches. And if Gutenberg could see what all this tech has done to the printing industry, it would blow his mind.

A high end offset printing press in action.

This past week I paid a visit to the JS Print Group in the emerging Lincoln Park Craft District across from Karin Kraemer’s Duluth Pottery. I stopped by to see owner Tobbi Stager and production manager Shane Simonette, both of whom I’d done business with in the past when each was at Service Printers. I’d been hearing good stories and when I learned of their hybrid digital/flexo printer I wanted see it in action.

Their newest machine is manufactured by Andy Mark out of St. Louis, a Digital One. It’s capabilities are impressive.

“There are only about 40 presses of this caliber in the country, and RS Print Group has the only one in MN,” Stager said. “It’s new, high tech and we’re proud to own one.”

The new equipment fills a growing niche. Commercial printing on paper is a shrinking market. Label printing volume is considerable and growing, he indicated. And sure enough, the proof was right in front of us as we opened our sandwiches at Corktown, Tom Hansen’s third restaurant in the West End. To give you an idea of how brisk the sandwich business is, Corktown’s first run was 20,000 labels.

“Everywhere we look there is more work,” Stager said. “This is ideal for local businesses because shipping labels is expensive. If your label supplier is in town, then costs can be mitigated significantly. Weight is the issue.”

A number of local craft brewers use labels for their short run packaging. It cuts costs for the brewers and provides jobs for JS Print Group. “We do window stickers, coupon books and just to show capabilities we did a run of stickers for kids who ride on the Vista Fleet.” Label printing is everywhere you look.

Print check.

Th Andy Mark Digital One in action.

It isn’t just the equipment that gets Stager enthused. He’s equally proud of his tight-knit team of  employees. The company opened for business 7 years ago in St. Michaels at Lakeside. Three years ago they moved the operation to the Lincoln Park Craft District. As of 2018 JS Print Group still had but four employees. Business was good, though, and since last year the team has grown to 13. Their high end offset printing is their bread and butter.

Shane Simonette, Production Manager

I was struck by a number of things in our conversation. This remark I found especially interesting: “Cold calls are easier today than 20years ago,” both Stager and Simonette asserted, wearing broad smiles. Perhaps it’s due to the massive quantities of email people get today, and business owners find face-to-face refreshing, dealing with humans directly.

Another thing that rang true was that their strong product knowledge gives them a cred edge. A lot of salespeople rely on their sales persona, but product knowledge will ultimately win under cross-examination. “Most salespeople don’t know the product,” Stager said.

Here’s something else I learned. A new innovation in direct mail today is Informed Mailing. People don’t realize that the U.S. Post Office now scans every piece of mail that they deliver. (I didn’t know this.) Today, companies like JS Print Shop have been set up with the post office so that as pieces are scanned, a text message gets sent to the recipient’s cell phone with a copy of the mailing that will be arriving shortly through delivery. This enables a sales message to be seen twice, and even more times when forwarded or shared.

As is well known in marketing circles, it takes several impressions before a person actually “gets” the message. This is a new capability that a number of businesses are taking advantage of today.

* * * *

Tobbi Stager, Taking care of business.

Stager talked about the his the importance of how you treat others. Something that he learned from his years at Service Printers was the importance of standing behind your word. “When things go wrong you want to treat people the way you like to be treated yourself.”

How you treat your customer is everything. And for Stager the same applies to their employees.

He added that JS Print Group is a union shop because he believes that it’s important to protect the craft. To do this his shop pays higher than union scale wages. Empowered workers are more engaged workers.

It’s easy to see why the management team here is enthused about where things are going.

When you visit their website (https://jspgshop.com/) you’ll see that Tobbi and Shane aren’t really just a print shop. They’re print consultants and brokers who help their customers find solutions to that best fit the client’s needs, not necessarily the “need” of keeping their own presses running.

For what it’s worth, their a welcome addition to the Twin Ports business community. 

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Local Makers, Artists and Artisans Doing Cool Stuff In Duluth

A Handy Husby Piece at Karin Kraemer's ne gallery space in Lincoln Park Craft District.

Saturday there were 30+ vendors in the Duluth Folk School space 

across the street from Karin Kraemer's pottery/art gallery.

With music, treats and sweets of all kinds, the Handmade Holiday Mart

was teeming with life this second-last weekend before Christmas.

After posting fotos on Facebook I was asked where this was all happening.

If you've not been paying attention, there's a lot of renewed energy here in 

what used to be called the West End, circa 21st Avenue West. 

Several new businesses have staked a claim to this part of town, and 

Duluth Grill has opened a sister restaurant called OCM, with the same 

caliber of original menu items supported by local growers.

The best part of all this activity is knowing there's still more to come.

Local Art Seen: Snapshot of Last Saturday's Opening @ Karin Kraemer's Duluth Pottery

Two new galleries opened in Duluth last Saturday, the Joseph Nease Gallery and Karin Kraemer's much anticipated Duluth Pottery. If I have my facts straight, Kraemer's cramped studio had been located adjacent to the Red Mug Coffeehouse in Superior for the past two decades. The opportunity to expand and other factors enabled the ever industrious and cheerful Kraemer took advantage of the opportunity.

The renovation of the former P&J Paints space was a major undertaking but what they've done here is turned the building into a real Duluth asset. When you look at the other businesses that have appeared on this block recently -- OCM Smokehouse, Bent Paddle, Frost River, the Duluth Folk School, etc. -- one senses that the Lincoln District has moved another step closer to the community upgrade that began when the abandoned Clyde Iron Works became the object of investment and given a second life.

To learn more, check out Samantha Church's story in Perfect Duluth Day, Duluth Pottery Is Back In Duluth. What follows are photos from the opening reception and works by many of the artists represented here on the 1900 block in Duluth's West End, which is now being called the Lincoln Park Craft District.

Kraemer's pottery designs are the "bees knees."

Inside looking out...

...and outside looking in.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it.