Moss: Channeling The Experience Economy for Strong Growth

When it comes to growth, Moss Inc. has certainly earned its place as one of the top companies in the wide-format space. With total sales of $101 million, an incredible $70.7 million comes from wide-format production.

Jason Popp, president and CEO, Moss Inc.: “People are buying less ‘stuff’ and channeling that spend into experiences.”

And that isn’t an accident. Jason Popp, president and CEO of the company, notes, “From our perspective at Moss, the wide-format segment continues to perform very well. We continue to see demand for quality print from all key end markets that we serve — exhibits, live events and sports, and retail and corporate environments. Clients see how wide-format print can bring their brand to life in a wide variety of end markets and, at the moment, we don’t see that slowing down.”

Those three markets — exhibits, live events, and retail/corporate environments, which Moss focuses heavily on for its wide-format business — are all areas where wide-format printing can completely transform the look and feel of a space. It’s something Moss has built a business around.

That said, Popp notes that just because those segments remain strong, it doesn’t mean there haven’t been changes they have had to roll with. He says, “These market segments have been pretty consistent for us throughout the years, and we look at our market segments the same way, regardless of geography. We do see some changes over time — for example our European business used to be primarily retail focused, but now has a growing portion of their revenue coming from exhibits and live events. Our new U.K. business (following the acquisition of MacroArt last November), is pretty well-balanced between exhibits, events, and sports and retail, with a smattering of work done for property as well.”

But what truly sets Moss apart from the rest, and enables it to find its place at the top of our rankings? Popp notes that it comes down to the ability to do more than just print.

“We pride ourselves on having not only wide-format print but also a host of other capabilities under our roof, such as aluminum frames and extrusions (all of which take our print), powder coating, laser cutting and etching, lightboxes and other specialty lighting, wood fabrication, and a host of other capabilities including a global procurement capability that can buy-in anything that we don’t produce ourselves,” he shares.

Further, while much of that non-print work is done for customers also buying print from the company, Popp says there is a growing demand from customers looking only for non-print services, especially around lighting solutions.

As for the future, Popp notes, “We’re bullish in 2025. Companies continue to use wide-format print to help tell their brand story — and the telling of brand stories just continues to increase. Retailers look to make the in-person shopping experience more engaging and experiential, and that’s driving demand for quality print.”

Other growth areas Popp is watching for the coming months for wide-format include “tailwinds from the overall strength of the ‘experience economy.' That can take many forms — the return of businesspeople attending trade shows, as well as the general population spending more of their disposable income attending things like sporting events, festivals, museum installations, and the like. People are buying less ‘stuff’ and channeling that spend to experiences — and that suits all of us at Moss just fine!”