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| EmbroidMe Frankston - A Local Success Story |
After successful visits to both the UFG Trade Show and Promo Trade Show in Sydney earlier this year, Embroidme Frankston were approached by the Australian Promotional Products Magazine wanting to feature EmbroidMe Frankston.
The following is the extract of the article included in Promotional Products Magazine in September 2007, published by Elite Publishing Co Pty Ltd.
A LOCAL success story
The Embroidme franchise chain began in the US in 2000, established by the founder of the mega successful SignARama franchise, Ray Titus. Judy Baulch spoke to the owners of the No 1 EmbroidMe Store in Australia - EmbroidMe Frankston.
With 30 stores around Australia, EmbroidMe is Australia's largest retail embroidery and promotional products network. EmbroidMe Frankston was the second of the eight Victorian franchises to open, established two and a half years ago by Pete and Nancy Bloomfield, who discovered EmbroidMe at the Melbourne franchise Show in 2004. Pete liked the training systems and they were both impressed by the concept and values of the company.
"We've been really happy with our decision," said Nancy, who along with husband Pete has an extensive business background. "It's been hard work but it's getting easier now."
In fact, since joining the EmbroidMe business, they haven't looked back, this year winning the President's Award presented personally by Ray Titus at the EmbroidMe United Franchise Group Expo in Sydney.
"The President's Award recognizes not only our commitment to EmbroidMe Frankston but also our commitment to our local community and to the EmbroidMe retial network around Australia and the world," explained Nancy, who along with Pete and daughter Kelly is a passionate and deeply involved supporter of the Frankston community.
EmbroidMe is a full service embroidery, screen printing, and promotional products retail business that achieves quick turn around on orders, and will take orders for one item through to 10,000 items.
"That means we can cater for smaller businesses as well as big corporates," Nancy explained.
"We have a large retail showroom so that customers can come in, see what we have available and see the quality of our work. We can source pretty much anything, including corporate wear, safety wear, casual wear and uniforms from 50 to 60 different suppliers like JB, Australian Sprirt, Biz Collection, and Gear for Life.
Sublimation printing is also available, allowing EmbroidMe Frankston to print stubby holders, pens, key tags etc and provide a one stop shop for those who prefer one business to deal with for all their branding from uniforms to promotional items.
EmbroidMe holds its own conferences and trade shows, something Pete believes is unique in the franchise world. World Expos are held every 18 months, usually in the US (EmbroidMe's home base is in Florida), which include a "huge" tradeshow, marketing meetings, tips for sales, training on new systems, and information on new technologies in embroideryor screen printing. The World Expo was where Nancy and Pete discovered the Brother garment printer, now a standard piece of equipment in the US franchises.
"The garment printer allows art work to be printed directly from the computer to the fabric and works best on cotton fabrics" Nancy explained. It reduces the cost of setup and is a nice alternative to screen printing as the result is just as good."
EmbroidMe Frankston was the first Australian store to purchase the garment printer and is now running a profitable sideline in garment printing for other stores who are yet to purchase the machine.
Pete and Nancy pride themselves on customer service and work closely with their clients to make sure they are happy with the finished product.
"We spend time discussing what they need, how they will be using the clothing and whether their artwork is best suited to embroidery or screen printing," Nancy said.
"We then do a stitched sample which the customer must approve before we go any further, to ensure the colours and size are right. If it's not right, we provide samples until it is."
Nancy advise people to make sure they see the quality of the work before choosing an embroiderer or screen printer.
"Check that the backing supporting the stiching is of good quality and tha the right products have been used to help the stitching stand out properly on fleece and towelling," she said. "Make sure you're getting ehay you pay for."
EmbroidMe worldwide
Established in the US by Ray Titus in 2000, EmbroidMe now has 450 stores in over 15 countries, and has grown to 30 stores in operation since 2004. In June 2007, Ray Titus from EmbroidMe received the E Award from US President George Bush, recognizing US business achievements in world markets and their role in increasing US exports. EmbroidMe is the first franchise to ever win the award.
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