Despite a tumultuous start to 2020, Gilson posted the most significant 1st quarter sales in their 72-year history. Sales are up 8% over the same time period last year—a rarity in the printing and graphic arts industry. Some of the world’s largest commercial print operations have experienced significant declines in recent years, forcing long-time industry players to entertain sell-offs and mergers to offset the decline in the overall market.
Despite the year’s many challenges, Gilson has not only weathered the storm but thrived in the face of it. Gilson finished out the 2019 fiscal year in May down 5% in sales from the prior year, ending a five-year growth trend. With just three months left in the fiscal year, Gilson was on track to have their best sales year yet, until COVID-19 showed up.
But the downward trend did not last long.
“June, July, and August are historically challenging months for us as a business,” said Jim Vosburgh, CFO. “Between vacations and a general slow-down in our strongest market sectors, we typically see our lower sales volumes during those summer months. To see a sizable increase this early in the new fiscal year is encouraging.”
Gilson’s leadership team excels at making smart investments and calculated risks, putting the company in prime position for growth when the conditions are right. Many of their most lucrative business decisions have come about when faced with national economic hardship, thanks to the fiscally responsible leadership of second-generation owner Dave Gilson.
“Before joining the family business in 1974, I spent a couple of years in the banking industry,” said Gilson. He went on to speak about his father, Lars, who founded the company in 1948, “It was always my father’s goal to seek out a competitive advantage that could help our customers and grow the business, but also to do so in a way that made financial sense.
“I’ve tried to run the business with the same proactive approach to growth by consistently investing profits back into the business,” said Gilson. “That’s how we’ve been able to keep expanding and growing right alongside our customers for so many years.”
Dave Oswald, President of Gilson, shared his perspective on the current pandemic. “We spent the first few months really sinking our teeth into refining our processes and revamping what we knew to be successful and then adapting it to what we needed for this new selling environment. I’m incredibly proud of our entire team, from the sales staff staying connected with customers and prospects remotely, to the production team making the best out of their new working conditions,” said Oswald. “We are coming out of one of the most difficult business scenarios we’ve ever faced and come out stronger than ever before.”
Gilson has remained in operation during the pandemic as an essential supplier in support of its grocery, pharmaceutical, and military contracts. By requiring those who could do their jobs remotely to work from home, and by following the CDC and OSHA requirements for work-safe conditions such as daily temperature checks and social distancing, Gilson has been able to continue operations.
Gilson offers marketing solutions such as print, design, and fulfillment to Fortune 1000 customers across the country. They celebrated their 70th year in 2018 and remains a privately held, family-owned business.
Clorox Expands In-Aisle Experience
Case Studies, Design, Produce, ProjectsClorox was looking to elevate the consumer experience in the cleaning aisle. They had preliminary campaign creative, but were unsure of how to execute the creative in-aisle across several different fixture configurations. They turned to Gilson’s in-store design team to help build a more engaging aisle display.
Potential UPS Strike: How Gilson is Ensuring Your Shipments
Industry UpdatesWe believe in keeping you informed about developments that could impact your experience with Gilson, and we want to make sure you’re aware of a potential situation involving UPS.
Pantone + Adobe Creative Cloud
Industry UpdatesRELEASE DATE: JANUARY 1, 2023
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Due to a change in Pantone’s 2023 licensing agreement with Adobe, customers will need to purchase Pantone Connect licenses to access Pantone colors in Adobe Creative Cloud products.
What does this mean for Gilson customers?
According to their website, “Pantone Connect is sold as an online subscription that includes a Web portal, mobile app, and integration into Adobe Creative Cloud apps via a plugin extension. Pantone Connect is available in a free or premium version. The premium version is required to use the Pantone Libraries in Adobe Creative Cloud apps.” Gilson recommends the premium version to ensure continuity of your brand’s colors, and to maximize the functionality of your Adobe Creative Cloud license.
Learn More at Pantone.com.
Postscript Type 1 Fonts and You
Industry UpdatesRELEASE DATE: January 1, 2023
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Adobe no longer supports document authoring with Type 1 fonts. Type 1 fonts, also known as PostScript, PS1, T1, Adobe Type 1, Multiple Master, or MM are a format within the font industry that has been replaced by larger glyph sets.
What does this mean for Gilson customers?
If your print file is built using Type 1 fonts, Adobe software no longer recognizes the fonts. Print-ready PDFs will still function, but if any edits need to be made to the native files, it may take significant rework to replace the fonts and adjust the document due to small differences in the fonts and ligatures, which can result in reflow of text blocks, pages, and tables.
According to the Adobe website, “Type 1 data embedded in file types such as EPS and PDF will be unaffected by this change, as long as they are placed for display or printing as graphic elements. If those files are opened for editing in applications such as Illustrator or Photoshop, they will trigger a “Missing fonts” error.”
Gilson strongly encourages all customers using Adobe Creative Suite to check their files for the use of Type 1 fonts and ensure that all files are built using TrueType or OpenType fonts going forward to avoid delays in production and avoid costs related to rebuilding customer-supplied files.
Learn More at Adobe.com
Gilson Awarded Best of Wide Format
Updates, Events, ProjectsGilson first brought you a behind-the-scenes look at the impressive renovation of the former Heritage Towers (now The Milton) in Battle Creek, MI back in June of 2020. That project is now gaining national recognition, and was unveiled as one of 12 winners of the 3rd Annual Best of Wide Format Awards competition by Big Picture magazine.
Gilson Posts Strongest 1st Quarter Sales in Company History
UpdatesDespite a tumultuous start to 2020, Gilson posted the most significant 1st quarter sales in their 72-year history. Sales are up 8% over the same time period last year—a rarity in the printing and graphic arts industry. Some of the world’s largest commercial print operations have experienced significant declines in recent years, forcing long-time industry players to entertain sell-offs and mergers to offset the decline in the overall market.
Despite the year’s many challenges, Gilson has not only weathered the storm but thrived in the face of it. Gilson finished out the 2019 fiscal year in May down 5% in sales from the prior year, ending a five-year growth trend. With just three months left in the fiscal year, Gilson was on track to have their best sales year yet, until COVID-19 showed up.
But the downward trend did not last long.
“June, July, and August are historically challenging months for us as a business,” said Jim Vosburgh, CFO. “Between vacations and a general slow-down in our strongest market sectors, we typically see our lower sales volumes during those summer months. To see a sizable increase this early in the new fiscal year is encouraging.”
Gilson’s leadership team excels at making smart investments and calculated risks, putting the company in prime position for growth when the conditions are right. Many of their most lucrative business decisions have come about when faced with national economic hardship, thanks to the fiscally responsible leadership of second-generation owner Dave Gilson.
“Before joining the family business in 1974, I spent a couple of years in the banking industry,” said Gilson. He went on to speak about his father, Lars, who founded the company in 1948, “It was always my father’s goal to seek out a competitive advantage that could help our customers and grow the business, but also to do so in a way that made financial sense.
“I’ve tried to run the business with the same proactive approach to growth by consistently investing profits back into the business,” said Gilson. “That’s how we’ve been able to keep expanding and growing right alongside our customers for so many years.”
Dave Oswald, President of Gilson, shared his perspective on the current pandemic. “We spent the first few months really sinking our teeth into refining our processes and revamping what we knew to be successful and then adapting it to what we needed for this new selling environment. I’m incredibly proud of our entire team, from the sales staff staying connected with customers and prospects remotely, to the production team making the best out of their new working conditions,” said Oswald. “We are coming out of one of the most difficult business scenarios we’ve ever faced and come out stronger than ever before.”
Gilson has remained in operation during the pandemic as an essential supplier in support of its grocery, pharmaceutical, and military contracts. By requiring those who could do their jobs remotely to work from home, and by following the CDC and OSHA requirements for work-safe conditions such as daily temperature checks and social distancing, Gilson has been able to continue operations.
Gilson offers marketing solutions such as print, design, and fulfillment to Fortune 1000 customers across the country. They celebrated their 70th year in 2018 and remains a privately held, family-owned business.