Top-notch service and an emphasis on customer care helps keep the Dock Street Printing Co. squarely on the page in a digital era.

“We like to think [our] service gives the customers what they want when they want it,” business co-owner Bill Goodwyn said.

Goodwyn and co-owner Cindy Meyers have operated the business, at 110 Dock St. in downtown Wilmington, since 2001.

Dock Street Printing has operated at the location since 1973, when founders Nelda and Charlie Illick opened up shop there.

The company was formerly a national franchise for 20 years and went independent in 2003.
Goodwyn and Meyers were both long-time employees and department managers when the Illicks decided to retire. The opportunity arose to purchase the company.

“They were one of the pioneers who developed downtown,”Goodwyn said of the Illicks.
Back in 1973, he said, the Dock Street neighborhood one block from the Cape Fear River was “a red-light district.”

“Nobody wanted to come downtown,” he said.

A burned-out building stood on the lot where Dock Street Printing is located. Year by year, the Illicks grew the company and saw a downtown business community slowly take shape.

As the Illicks and others began to develop businesses in the downtown area, “all that stuff moved out. People like [the Illicks] said, ‘We’re going to try to start a business here’ and 40 years later, business is booming,” Goodwyn said.

Changing ownership

Meyers was working in customer service, and Goodwyn became production manager in the 1990s after coming over from another printing company.

“After about eight years, [the Illicks] decided to retire, and they wanted to know if we wanted to
buy it,” he said.

The first years of ownership were challenging, but business began to improve, Goodwyn said.
Services offered by Dock Street Printing include commercial printing, color copying and four-color offset printing, high-volume duplicating, digital color copies, graphic design and bindery.

The advent of the Internet and widespread computer use “put a hurt on the printing business,” Goodwyn said.

Online programs and applications make it possible for people to do many printing functions at home.

“People can create something themselves even if it doesn’t look that good,” Goodwyn said. “It’s all gone digital.”

Goodwyn and Meyers enjoy the rapport with their customers, a key to the longevity of the business.

“All we’ve got to compete with is friendly service, and people seem to like to come in. We’re pet-friendly,” Goodwyn said. “There’s a lot of businesses downtown by the water now.”

Dock Street Printing offers delivery service every Friday, and the business has its own parking lot for customer convenience.

“It’s different being downtown with antique stores and bars. We’ve seemed to fit in over the years,” Goodwyn said.

Some customers prefer the quality of offset printing, compared to what’s available on their home computers.

“Some people say offset looks better,” Goodwyn said. “There are some things you just can’t do on digital. In the long run, offset is cheaper.”

Dock Street Printing is more economical for other jobs as well, he said.

“I still have five offset presses here,” Goodwyn said. 

The company has five full-time employees and a part-time driver. That’s half the workforce the business had at one time.

“I’m fortunate, never having to lay anybody off,” he said. “People would change careers [and not be replaced].”

Office paper

Goodwyn and Meyers are looking at the future of the business.

“We will be able to upgrade our equipment to meet the demands of the technology age,” Goodwyn said.

Some of equipment used by Dock Street Printing is leased. That makes business sense, with rapid advances in digital technology, Goodwyn said.

“We used to buy them and pay for them, and as soon as you pay for them, they’re out of date,” he said.

While printing businesses in Wilmington get fewer high-volume jobs from companies for materials like billing forms, demand remains steady for services such as business cards, envelopes and letterheads.

“Businesses in town need little things,” Goodwyn said.

Dock Street Printing also continues to turn out brochures, newsletters, company booklets and some invoices.

“It’s a paperless society, but there’s paper in every office,” Goodwyn said.

The printing company recently added a Facebook page. One item recently posted was a letter of thanks from a customer who worked with Dock Street Printing through her position with a Wilmington medical supplies company.

“As you know, our business has made many demands upon your time, and no doubt your patience. Nevertheless, you always came through, particularly in a crunch, and always with a smile,” the customer wrote. “Your level of commitment to our company’s success is unsurpassed by any other.”

It’s that personal connection that helps the firm compete, even in the Internet age.

“We like to consider ourselves the Cheers of print shops. We are a fun and friendly group. We know the names of almost everyone that comes through the door. If we don’t know your name, don’t worry, after a couple of visits we will not only know your name, but we will know your pet’s name, too,” the company’s website proclaims.

Goodwyn and Meyers said they believe the demand for printing services will remain steady in the future.

“We hope so. We still see a piece of the pie out there,” Goodwyn said. “I still see people using printing [services] like envelopes. A lot of people don’t like to print with copiers or digital.”