‘Examiner’ offices still located at east Chillicothe Ave. site
Three businesses are now sharing a downtown Bellefontaine space at 127 E. Chillicothe Ave., and are open to serve a variety of needs in the community and provide unique specialty products.
This spring, Hi-Point Graphics and All-Around Awards opened a new retail space at the building, which also continues to house the Bellefontaine Examiner.
Customers entering the front doors are greeted by the Hi-Point Graphics and All-Around Awards showroom, where they can browse a variety of products available in the renovated space with a fresh new look. Garments and gift items are available for sale right off the shelf or custom orders can be placed.
The Bellefontaine Examiner can be found by continuing through the building and following the signs to the area that formerly housed the newsroom. The Examiner offices are located in this area and staff members are available to assist newspaper customers and members of the public with inquiries in the advertising, circulation and news departments.
Since 2018, Hi-Point Graphics has had a presence in the building when they moved into the rear of the facility to utilize the printing space for their business. The company has built a strong reputation in the community and also through its expressive apparel division, Four Acre Clothing Co., has garnered recent awards, including the 2020 and 2021 Best of Logan County retail store and the 2021 Logan County Chamber of Commerce Emerging Business Award.
Now Hi-Point Graphics owners Rodney and Andrea Wrocklage are thrilled to expand their family of companies with the opening of this retail space and through their recent purchase of All-Around Awards from longtime owner Cherie Cooper, as she prepares for retirement.
“We’re thankful to (Examiner publishers) the Hubbard family for the opportunity to continue being at this location,” Andrea said. “We’re also excited to continue Cherie’s business, serving her customers with the same quality they have come to expect, while also expanding capabilities. “We are passionate about small businesses and it’s an honor to help continue her legacy.”
All-Around Awards moved to the new location in March from its former 138 W. Columbus Ave. storefront, which Cooper had operated since 1998. Custom engraving, trophies, awards, personalization and other specialty gift and milestone items are among the many offerings.
Cooper related that during her growing up years, her father operated a trophy business, but she always told him, no that it wasn’t for her.
However, she said once she was in her mid-thirties or early 40s, she began to explore that avenue a little herself, operating a trophy shop “working out of my kitchen in my house” during 1997.
Her family friend, Alan Galvez, knew about the specialty work and thought she might like to check out the west Columbus Avenue storefront that was available.
“I loved it right away, and that’s when I quit my full-time job and dedicated myself to my new business,” Cooper said.
Recently, the longtime owner said the job was becoming physically demanding for her and she was looking to retire. Through sharing this with Andrea, whom she had gotten to know through their joint downtown ventures, Cooper was happy to learn that the Hi-Point Graphics owners would be interested in purchasing All-Around Awards.
“Rod and Andrea have a history of operating a small business, so it felt like a great fit. I didn’t put 23 years into something to have it go away. There is a real need for this type of business in the area and even beyond — we also serve clients out of state.
“I’ve been helping at the new location during the transition period, as they learn all of the processes. I want to see them succeed.”
Cooper said her granddaughter, Naomi (Cook) Young, often helped her out at All-Around Awards from a young age, where her grandmother taught her that, “girls can use tools, too, and can do anything they set their minds to.” Now with the business under the new ownership, Cooper said she liked that two women would be involving in running the shop area — Stephanie Meeker and Ashley Good.
Rodney and Andrea said acquiring All-Around Awards fit in well with their family of companies and their knowledge of the industry through Hi-Point Graphics and Four Acre Clothing Co.
Hi-Point Graphics traces its beginnings back to 2013. Rodney said as the owner of a previous business, he faced a need to find quality T-shirts, but had difficulty meeting the need locally.
So he invested in a small press and began printing his own shirts. People started to notice, and before long, he was making shirts for not only himself, but for a small circle of friends.
A few years later in 2015, Rodney met Andrea, and as a couple, they decided to expand this at-home business to serve a greater audience in Logan County and surrounding areas.
What started as a one-head press and a small flash dryer has evolved into Hi-Point Graphics, LLC., offering a wide variety of production services, from screen printing to embroidery, dye sublimination, graphic design, banners, signage, custom orders and promotional products.
“We serve customers from the smallest, one-off orders to the largest scale customers.
We’ve completed a 70,000-piece order from a large corporation,” the owners noted.
In 2017, Four Acre Clothing Co. opened as a division of Hi-Point Graphics, and then Feb. 29, 2019, the expressive apparel brand opened its first retail space at 102 S. Main St., Bellefontaine. Since then, Four Acre Clothing Co. has opened a second location in Troy.
The division also has wholesale accounts at a number of retail locations across Ohio.
Building on that experience, Four Acre Clothing Co. is gearing up for a partnership with Tanger Outlets this summer, for an event called the Second Saturday Four Acre Clothing Co. Artisan Market, continuing from June through October. The market will take place at the outlet’s Columbus location, and will feature music, a curated list of vendors and a beer garden in a fun atmosphere, Andrea explained.
Four Acre Clothing Co. (teaming up with HPG and All-Around Awards) also is the event sponsor coming up next month for the Bellefontaine First Friday’s event – Pineapple Palooza. That day also coincides with Hi-Point Graphics and All-Around Awards’ grand opening celebration, starting at 10 a.m. June 3.
The owners credited the business’ success to a team-oriented approach and to the hard-working team members of their “work family.”
“We believe we have the best employees,” Rodney and Andrea said. “We truly feel like our team members are part of our family. We’re looking forward to experiencing these new opportunities and growth with them in the future.”