"Newest Digs More than just OK"

By Sherri Buri McDonald

The company's renovated store grandly opens with hopes of tripling sales in the next two years. Imagine Graphics' new store on Garfield Street is adding some zest and color to the west Eugene industrial/commercial corridor. Commuters along West 11th can't help but notice the four 14-foot by 14-foot images plastered on the store's southern exterior wall. There's a shimmering blue-green butterfly, a vibrant orange gerber daisy, an OK hand sign and a golden sun icon. Technically, they're murals - not signs. But it's probably some of the best advertising the small graphics shop could do to show people what they're capable of, following a $2.5 million expansion.

The company, originally named Sign of the Times, was founded in 1993 by husband-and-wife Chris Meeker and Erika Leaf. Last year the couple bought the former Miller Paint building at 990 Garfield St. After nine months of renovation and the $2.5 million investment in the property and new equipment, Meeker and Leaf unveiled the new store - and company name - at a grand opening on Wednesday. They said they hope to triple sales in the next two years. (Meeker declined to disclose the company's annual revenues.) The shop creates signs, banners, graphics and designs for vehicles and trade-show displays. "We can basically print just about anything on virtually every material you can imagine," Meeker said.

New equipment purchases will enable the shop to offer additional services- such as printing digital photos or images on wallpaper and on ceramic tiles - that the owners say weren't previously available locally. As part of the expansion, Imagine Graphics doubled its staff to 11 employees. The company applied for tax breaks under the recently resurrected west Eugene enterprise zone, which offers three years of property tax waivers to companies expanding in the zone. Meeker estimates the value of the tax waiver to be $30,000 over the three- year period. "That has allowed us to invest in the equipment and people to make all of this happen," Meeker said. Meeker said he and Leaf are borrowing about $2.2 million from Pacific Continental Bank and Leaf's family to fund the expansion.