While the technology for their print shop has changed, the family behind Bec-Car Printing on Davie Avenue believe that sometimes, the old-fashioned way is still the best way to do business.
Delan White said his father, Carl White, believed in treating people fairly and working well with others. These business ethics make up the core guidelines he, his mother Becky Poplin, and sister, Michelle Baggarley, use today.
“It makes you sleep well at night to know you do things for people,” Poplin said.
Poplin is sure her first husband Carl, who died in 1982, would be out on Davie Avenue waving a flag to celebrate Bec-Car Printing’s 50th anniversary if he was still alive.
“Daddy had drive,” said Baggarley. “When he set his mind to it, he made it happen.”
The print shop was one of the first businesses in Statesville with a hyphenated name. Poplin and her husband combined the first three letters of their name “Bec” and “Car.”
Poplin said they put her name first so they could get a better spot in the Yellow Pages.
In 50 years, the print shop has moved several times, more than doubled its work space in its current location and opened a shop in Mooresville.
The print shop offers a full line of services, including newsletters, magnets, copies, raffle tickets and more.
Poplin and her first husband started the business in 1962 after purchasing Beam Printing Company on Court Street. With a press he purchased from another business in town, he carved out the legacy and taught them the values they still use today, Baggarley said.
It’s important not to lose sight of their roots, the family said. Every so often, when they are trying to make a business decisions they ask each other, “What would Daddy do?”
The family has several stories about the people who have worked with them during the 50 years they’ve remained in business. The employees have been a part of their family, White said.
Business was fun in the early days, White said. White and Baggerley practically grew up in the print shop their parents ran on Court Street. Poplin said she would let them take naps in a wooden drawer next to her work station.
The business was downtown on Court Street until 1973 when Bec-Car Printing moved into an old gas station on Davie Avenue.
They have stories about binding documents and making copies after school or working in the darkroom in the old R&L press area.
White said printing used to be considered a trade because of the time and craftsmanship it took to put a printing press together. His father learned the craft at a trade school in South Carolina, he said.
White said it still helps their business to have that kind of knowledge.
Not that the old techniques have fallen by the wayside. Bec-Car Printing still uses one of its original letters for offset printing and making die-cut shapes.
While the past couple of years have been tough, White said business is starting to improve.
“This industry is struggling,” White said. “This is a stressful industry because you are always changing.”
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