Owner, Graphics Factory
St. George, Utah
Gillen started his graphics printing business as an online venture and then expanded it into a brick-and-mortar store last year. In November, he was contemplating backing out of his lease and taking the company back to a Web-only platform.
The holiday season was bad, but it's started to pick back up since beginning of year. I even hired one more employee a month ago to help finish signs and banners. Everything is coming back together, which was possible because my landlord lowered the rent for everyone in the shopping complex.
Our Web sites, buyabanner.com and graphicsfactory.com, bring in additional sales when local retail traffic is slow. By utilizing every possible marketing method we have been able to keep our doors open and continue to have hope for better days.
Customers are also loosening up a bit. I have hope things are turning around and will get better from here. We're not out of the woods yet, but I do see a small light glimmering at the end of the tunnel.
NEXT: Flat is the new up
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