Thomas Reprographics has been a venerable name in the reprographics community since the 1950s. But the company, like most IRgA members, has transformed over the past few years. To reflect that change, the Thomas family changed the company's name to Thomas Printworks earlier this year. Below is a Q&A with Bryan Thomas, president of Thomas Printworks, about the name change and the company's evolution.
Ed Avis: When did you start thinking that "printworks" more accurately reflected the work Thomas does? How did you come up with "printworks"?
Bryan Thomas: For the last 20 years, our business has slowly transformed into something different. But, in the last seven years, that change has been strategically much more dramatic. In the mid 1990s, 70 percent of our revenue was generated from servicing the AEC community. But, today that number is closer to 35 percent. All that being said, the majority of our customer base does not know what “reprographics” even means and many have just as difficult a time trying to pronounce it.
Avis: Does the name change symbolize a more fundamental shift within the company?
Thomas: We have introduced many new products over the last couple of years along with our Visualogistix services. We are taking this opportunity to better communicate all of those to existing and potential customers through the message – The next Era of Thomas is here – New Look, More Service, Same Thomas.
Avis: How have customers responded to the rebranding?
Thomas: Customer as well as employee response has been extremely positive. In our focus group studies with both AEC and corporate/marketing customers prior to developing a new name, it was shown that the identifying mark with our customer base was the name “Thomas.” But, it was also proven that we needed something other than “reprographics” to describe our services. Like many of our counterparts, we have worked hard to portray ourselves as much more than a printing resource. However, as we looked internally, print of various types accounts for 90 percent of our overall revenue. Further, in our discussions with customers and employees, “print” was overwhelmingly shared as the best identifier.
Avis: Tell me a little about how Thomas got to where it is now -- one of the most successful, still-family-owned reprographics businesses. How did Thomas survive the recession when so many other repro firms went under?
Thomas: Thomas’ growth since 1956 has definitely been led by acquisition, even in its early days. That being said, we began our diversification outside of the AEC industry more than 25 years ago. The growth in that area has been almost entirely organic. Further, over the last nearly 60 years, the most recent recession was just that – the most recent. We had some experience on how to match expenses to expected revenues while not forgetting that finding new revenue opportunities was the road to long-term success.
Avis: Tell me a little about your own journey.
Thomas: I have been very fortunate that a family business opportunity existed that I truly enjoyed from the very start. I began working summers for spending money, starting as an assistant working in the film labs and eventually learned all roles and equipment. It allowed me to fill in for just about anyone that was on summer vacation, from production personnel to customer service and store managers. During my college years, I worked mostly in sales and marketing roles during the summer months. After business school, I began full time. First in San Francisco, then back to Dallas, becoming President in 1998 and CEO in 2007.
Avis: What's next for Thomas? Is there another generation now sweeping the floors in preparation for future leadership?
Thomas: Our Visualogistix services are our major focus at the moment and our largest growth area. This service is centered around restaurant and retail marketing and advertising print services. As for the 4th generation, they are pretty young still, so that is still up in the air.
Below is a video Thomas created to promote their new identity: