In the 1990s, Wendy Grant was a graphic designer by trade and an instructor at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall without any plans of running a business. But when the college’s Kingston campus absorbed Cornwall’s program, Grant and her co-worker and soon-to-be business partner Bob Blair decided to try something new.
Since buying the Cornwall City Press in 1994, Grant has carried the business through the shift from “archaic” printing process to the introduction of new technology, as well as purchased a sign company, introduced new offerings, acquired Cornwall’s Sign Factory, and weathered a pandemic. In 2024, two years after Cornwall City Press celebrated its 95th anniversary, Grant was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce.
Now the sole owner of Cornwall City Press, and still surprised by her nomination and grateful to her community, Grant sat down with OBJ to chat about how the printing business has changed, becoming a first-time business owner in a struggling industry, and how a simple “why not?” turned into preserving a nearly century-old legacy in Cornwall.
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This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
As a college instructor without any entrepreneurship experience, how did you decide that Cornwall City Press was the business venture you wanted to invest in?
I was trained as a graphic designer and was teaching graphic design at St. Lawrence College. The college decided to figure out ways to cut costs and decided to amalgamate two graphic design programs into one. The Cornwall campus had a sister design program at the Kingston campus, and they decided to amalgamate the two. My family is in Quebec, I live in Cornwall, and didn’t want to move to Kingston.
My partner had also been at the college for 24 years and he didn’t want to move or make the commute. He got on the phone with me two hours later and asked what we were going to do. Then he called the owners of Cornwall City Press, because we knew they were of retirement age, and asked if they were interested in selling. It was not on my radar at all, but he asked if I was interested in joining him, and I said, “Sure!”
We knew the owners were in their 70s. It was a husband and wife team, and she was on the ball, sharp as a tack. You know how they say Levi’s never die, they just fade away? Well I think it’s the same with printers. The ink just fades away.
So we knew it was potentially available and thought, rather than create competition somewhere that had enough printers, even too many printers, we thought maybe they’d’ be interested in selling.
We thought, we teach this stuff, so we can do it. But it’s very different on the other side of the counter. Here we were accustomed to bringing in artwork to printers, and now we were on the other side going, “Oh, jeez.”
You must have had to learn a lot as a new entrepreneur. How did your new career at Cornwall City Press challenge you?
In just about every way. We were both designers, so we knew that part really well. But computers were just starting to make their way into the design field. The business we bought had none, they had a typesetter. They printed out text on paper, it was archaic.
We were on the verge of learning the new technology and bringing it into the business, and we had to train the employees with how to do it, so that was a little strange for some of them.
We also had to learn business. We’d freelanced, so we were in business part-time that way as a side gig, but we had to do the full learning of how to run a business. And although we’d had students to manage and encourage and teach, we now had employees to manage and encourage and teach.
We also didn’t buy the best printing company in Cornwall; we bought probably the third best. So we had to improve the quality, expand its offerings, and get it out there that it was not the same Cornwall City Press anymore.
What’s the Sign Factory?
I bought the Sign Factory in 2011, and it was about 20 years old then. It was a really good sign business in Cornwall offering commercial signs and promotional products. I knew the owner and I knew she had a good business. There were a few good sign businesses, not as many as now, and I thought the printing industry has been through a lot and lost a lot of revenue.
If you went to the print sign shows, there was sign equipment everywhere. We already used the design equipment, so I knew I wanted to get into making signs. So again, rather than competing against someone with a good reputation … Why don’t I see if she wanted to sell? She thought it was a great way to retire and make sure the business passes on, knowing the customers would be well taken care of and, knowing my background, she saw the fit.
So we moved it into the same space as our other business and she came along with it and worked with us for four years before she retired.
In the time that you’ve been at City Press, how has the business and market changed?
When we came into the business, digital printing and home-based computers were just starting, so people didn’t have them at home, and if they had a printer at home, it was usually atrocious-looking results.
We went from artwork on artboard with mechanical pens and film overlays, to doing the whole thing on the computer, so that changed completely. It made our job easier to do, but we had to know the computer.
Back then, the computer didn’t know everything. You could create beautiful things that weren’t printable. But now they’re smarter.
Also, how it’s printed has changed. Large runs still use traditional print, but the equipment has changed and the quantity has changed. People used to print 2,000 brochures in order to get a good price, but now you can print 500 if that’s all you need.
With the tech, you can change your sales and your offerings more easily.
Demand has also changed quite a bit. People are getting that they can’t do it at home anymore.
For a while, everyone was their own designer and own printer, and it looked atrocious, but online services like Vistaprint cut into the business, and it still does.
But people trying to present a really professional look with high-end products go that way and then come back to us because they aren’t happy. With online printers, they get into trouble and there’s nobody to talk to.
We offer the human-to-human connection.
Tell me a bit about your team and retention. How many staff members do you have?
We have six staff members, two full-time. The longest-standing has been here 22 years. Once they come in they tend to hang around. We all eat lunch together, which was hard with COVID, and what I’ve learned is that the people who don’t eat lunch with us don’t tend to stay because they don’t build those friendships with us.
My partner’s goal was always to have fun doing it. We have fun because we love what we do. Some days are terrible, but you try to have fun.
You mentioned that you don’t consider yourself an entrepreneur. Why is that?
I misunderstood the definition. I had to look it up in the dictionary … To me, an entrepreneur was a young person who started up the business and was hanging on. I was thinking, “I’ve been here for 20-ish years, I bought the business and I didn’t start it.”
But basically, we bought a customer list, because we changed everything.
I didn’t realize all of the exact meanings of the word. But when I learned it was about the risks, the investments, I thought, “I live that fear and worry every day.”
I have to think outside the box. I didn’t invent some great doo-hickey that nobody had ever thought of, but I’ve created and grown a business that is still here.
What does it mean to you to be recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year?
I was pretty shocked. Very shocked, actually. I just sit here and do my own thing. I was most surprised because I’ve been here for so long, and just the fact that someone would nominate me … It’s really an honour and it’s nice to be recognized and still just such a surprise.
How have you been able to carry on the legacy of Cornwall City Press in order to celebrate its 95th anniversary?
Keeping it going and keeping its name has been important. Just recently, I had a company inquire who would find a buyer for the company, and it would become a franchise and the name would change, and that wouldn’t sit well with me. It’s been here for 100 years.
I’m hoping for the future that I do find a buyer that will take care of it as I have, and ensure that it lives on in light of the fact that I’m the only printer within the city.
What if it closed, if I said I’m done and went home? What will happen to those hundreds of customers? I’m hoping whoever takes this over — and I’m hoping there will be somebody — will take care of it for my clients and for my staff. I think the community needs something like my business, and I’m doing my best to ensure it has that.
I had never thought of retiring, but I knew it would happen one day, and I’m in my 60s now. When COVID hit, it’s been a hard time to get through, and any small business owner will say the same thing. I haven’t missed a day’s work since then. It’s got me thinking. I’m going to retire in the next three to five years, but it will depend on what happens.
I just want to make sure it all lives on.
