Member Spotlight: Sew Unique Custom Embroidery, Inc.
It’s like a plot straight from a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie. Guy and girl go to high school together, and then grow up. Guy buys custom embroidered shirts from girl’s company. Guy and girl become good friends. Girl’s company closes down. Guy and girl open up printing/embroidering company together. Guy and girl fall in love.
Sound a lot like Sleepless in Seattle or You’ve Got Mail? Nope! This is how Brian Stanilla and Stephanie Wolfe, owners of Sew Unique Custom Embroidery, Inc., started their business. Stanilla and Wolfe knew one another as fellow students at Annville-Cleona High School. Later, when Wolfe worked for United Stitches of America, Stanilla bought custom shirts through her for the company he worked for, Coral Reef Sailing Apparel. After United Stitches closed, Stanilla eventually left his job and the two former classmates opened Sew Unique together in 2010.
“It was hard,” Wolfe reminisced. “It’s not like you can just start up a business. You have to be able to afford the machines and a location. This is a very competitive industry. I’d say financing was the hardest part of opening a small business. No one wanted to give us a loan.”
The business originated on 8th Street in Lebanon in a large warehouse. When Stanilla and Wolfe initially opened up Sew Unique, they only did embroidery work. In 2012, they purchased a machine which enabled them to produce digital printing and sublimation art. The purchase of this new machine, which cost an estimated $26,000, allowed Sew Unique to expand their services and have an advantage in the local market.
In 2014, Sew Unique also acquired a vinyl cutter to help cut logos, names, and player numbers for T-shirts and other merchandise items, yet another example of how Sew Unique has expanded its services. Today, Sew Unique’s complete menu of specialties features embellishment, screen printing, heat-applied vinyl, dye sublimation, digital direct-to-garment printing, embroidery, and promotional products.
“No one else around here does it (digital printing),” Stanilla explained. “Someone can just walk off the street and order one shirt and then pick it up.”
Sew Unique also does not charge any art fees, unless the design is extremely complex. If someone walks in and wants an item printed and embroidered, but they don’t have any available art design, Stanilla and Wolfe will work with them to create a graphic.
What types of items can Sew Unique print or embroider?
“Anything,” said Wolfe. “If you can think of it, we can do it. We’re not just limited to T-shirts and mugs.”
Sew Unique has an expansive magazine of promotional products from which customers can order. They are also a member of ASI, Advertising Specialty Institute, which allows them to purchase items at a cheaper rate. This enables Sew Unique to remain competitive with its pricing.
When Sew Unique first opened, Stanilla and Wolfe were the organization’s only employees. There are currently three additional employees, two full-time and one part-time. As Sew Unique continues to grow in its building size and workforce, so does the custom embroidery and printing market as a whole.
“There are more players in the market,” Stanilla stated.
In January of this year, Sew Unique moved to its new location at 701 Quentin Road in Lebanon. Before this, the business was located at 2629 W. Cumberland Street. Wolfe stated that it’s difficult to find space to rent where all of the different printing machines can fit. The house on Quentin Road provides both a better location as well as ample room for all of the printing and embroidering equipment. They are hoping that the new building location also aids in making their business more visible.
In order to help set themselves apart from other businesses, Stanilla and Wolfe are hoping to open up the storefront in their new building so that they can welcome customers off the street and build their local clientele. The storefront will most likely open in late spring once Sew Unique is settled in and cleaned up after the move. With most of their customers residing in New York and New Jersey, Stanilla and Wolfe hope that this new storefront will draw more local customers. Sew Unique also hopes to soon offer online stores for companies so that customers can easily upload artwork and purchase products.
Anyone interested in learning more about Sew Unique Custom Embroidery, Inc. can call them at 717-657-9380 or email them at brian@sewuniquece.com or steph@sewuniquece.com. Information is also available online at www.sewuniquece.com.
Top Photo: Stanilla and Wolfe in front of the digital printing equipment.
Bottom Photo: Wolfe showcases the embroidery equipment.
