A.V.I.D. Opens L.A. Facility

Sublimation printer A.V.I.D. Inc. opened a Los Angeles office and printing facility in mid-February as a satellite to the company’s headquarters in Corona, Calif.

“Here, we needed an outlet for customers to come and see us exist rather than go to the Inland Empire,” said A.V.I.D. Chief Executive Officer Robert D. Davis. “Here, they can maintain a close relationship with us without having to drive some distance.”

The 6,000-square-foot office, at 1426 Channing St. in downtown Los Angeles, offers open-line paper storage of about 1,000 designs and a transferring press and staff, “so people can come in and shop and transfer it right now,” Davis said. Customers can also work with A.V.I.D. designers on custom prints.

Sales representatives Michael Bokser and Damon Gomez will be based in the Los Angeles office, as will a production manager and production staff.

Meanwhile, A.V.I.D. is installing a new eight-color, sheet-fed offset printing press, which will print sheets up to 44 inches by 64 inches, at the Corona headquarters. The company has to install a concrete pad to house the 220,000-pound machine.

“We seem to be coming into a print cycle,” said Davis. “Missy is definitely following closer to the junior market than it has before.”

Davis said opportunities for local printers such as A.V.I.D. open up when retailers wait to place their final commitments.

A.V.I.D. sells to misses, juniors, men’s, kids’, athletic and swimwear manufacturers and does custom printing for the licensing industry. The company maintains a database of about 4,500 designs—“at last count,” according to Davis.

A.V.I.D.’s Los Angeles staff can be reached at (213) 765-0805. To reach the company’s Corona office, call (877) AVID-INK. —Alison A. Nieder