Sparta Exchange ‘ink-spired’ to expand business | News

December 9, 2023

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Brandon Brosch and Elizabeth Ploss, owners of Sparta Exchange, 24 W. Main St., Corry, have branched out into the world of sign printing.

Their business, Sparta Exchange, opened in 2021 and is primarily a discount store that specializes in new, used and open-box merchandise. However, Brosch and Ploss decided to expand the business and began looking into what it would take to print large-scale vinyl banners and signs for the Corry area.

This summer, one of their friends invited the pair to his house to show off his printer for vinyl signs and banners.

“He does banner printing out of his house and showed us what can be made with it,” Brosch said. “We noticed that not many businesses in the area are able to provide all of the different things that this machine can do. There are people that can do yard signs with a Cricut but not everybody does the really large banners, signs or canvas prints, or other items like that. So, that’s where we thought that we could offer something different.”

They purchased a Roland TruVis Vinyl Printer Cutter, capable of creating banners up to 52 inches wide and 150 feet long. In addition to banners, the printer can also create posters, stickers, window and vehicle decals, corn hole board wraps, gaming system wraps, bumper stickers and yard signs, “Basically anything that is vinyl, and canvas prints,” Brosch claimed.

The printer was, “A significant investment,” Brosch said. “It was a very big decision for us — we had to talk about it a lot. We decided to go that route because, as anyone in business will tell you, you never want to put all your eggs in one basket. So, this is a way to diversify our business.”

“We’re going to eventually be able to print wraps for PlayStation, Xbox and Switch,” Brosch said.

Brosch also explained that he reached out to local businesses before going public with the new printer.

“We made it known to area businesses and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to be doing signs. If you need signage, window decals, yard signs, things like that, let us know because we’re able to do it. We’re right here in town.

“We just recently did a banner pole at Relevant Church for their event, numerous yard signs and a window decal for Dahlia Home Decor, but we have to wait for warmer weather before that one goes up.”

Brosch said for window decals to adhere properly, the glass must be between 50 and 70 degrees, thus winter is not the time to apply window decals.

The printer is also capable of reproducing original artwork and photographs on canvas. Brosch hopes to see orders for senior pictures on canvas next spring and wedding photos in the summer.

Brosch is also hopeful that the community will support his local business.

“We want to be the go-to for signs and banners,” Brosch admitted. “We’re trying to make our prices as competitive as possible to keep people from ordering from big chains like Vistaprint or Walmart, where they’re going to have to pay for shipping and wait for a package in the mail.

Depending upon the project, Brosch said the turnaround time from placing the order to customer pick-up is often only a day.

“We can sometimes have something done in a day, within a few hours,” Brosch added. “Bigger projects like multiples of large signs can take about a week to get all of them done, just because of the size and the printing involved.”

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