A new flatbed printer and an enhanced online ordering system has put AlphaGraphics on the printing map in northern Utah. Natalie Knight owns the South Ogden franchise. She took over as owner in April 2016 when she bought the business from her mom.
They offer printing services from South Ogden to Logan and everywhere in between. “Printing is still a big part of what we do,” Knight said. The specialize in large format print banners, signs and can even print onto hard surfaces. Their recent acquisition of a flat-bed printer has made their abilities to meet customers’ needs much greater. “With this printer you can literally take a door off its hinges and print on it,” she noted. In the past they would print something on a sticker and then then stick it to a surface, but now they can run the surface through the printer, making it look sleeker and finished. Knight said it’s very interesting to watch because the ultra violet light goes behind the ink and prints on the surface.
They got the printer in June and have loved seeing the results of what it can do. Knight said the technology is not necessarily new, but they have the newest edition of the technology and it’s impressive. They can also print in higher quantity and more quickly and efficiently with the machine. So things like foam board, yard signs or moderately thick acrylics go nicely in the printer. It can also accommodate larger jobs – like a door – or smaller jobs. For example, they recently printed matchbooks for a Solomon skiing event to be held in California later this year.
Because it can accommodate different sizes, they are able to print things that will fit on odd-shaped objects too – like speakers, phone chargers or a wide variety of promotional products. It can also print clear or print white on dark products, not something that has been available in other models.
And Knight said that while much of what they do is business to business work for clients, they also take walk in orders with designers on staff to create and produce what any customer is looking for. Included with the walk-in business are in-house mailing capabilities. But Knight emphasized that business to business projects are their “niche.”
Part of that includes a newly-enhanced online ordering system. It is an ordering platform where each business has its own online account and can order directly from there. It has proven to be quite sleek for clients because they don’t have to go through someone at their own corporate office if they need a local project to be completed.
“That can be a real headache for one person to manage all the locations of their business. This way it comes directly to us and we can work directly with one location,” Knight said. She noted that the system has really evolved recently and their clients love it because it is user friendly. “There are no bottlenecks,” she said. One reason for the streamlined process is that while they are a franchise, they do have a corporate office to back them and help with the hiccups.
They also have buying power to get the best and top of the line printing products and they can pass on those savings to the customer. But because they are locally owned, they love to invest back into the community by supporting local events, groups and organizations. “I love working with local Ogden businesses and helping their business to grow,” Knight said. And because of that local touch, the in-house design team sees the needs of the community and can include that in their designs.
To that end, Knight encouraged local business to start thinking of printing needs for the holidays – gifts, invitations and those type of things will start happening before they know it and AlphaGraphics would love to help customers get a head start for the holidays. 
