Poppy Print Studio: Where Passion Meets Production

It’s not every day that people get to make their passion projects their entire career. But for husband-and-wife duo Ben Koehn and Jennifer Hunt, their wallpaper business Poppy Print Studio reflects Jennifer’s love for design and Ben’s love of print.

“We’re kind of a good pair that can handle the creative side and make things that people want to put on their walls. And then I try to be good about making sure we produce that quickly and efficiently,” Koehn says. “It works. She loves to design, that’s her passion. And then I enjoy the operations — creating procedures and making sure things are done correctly and on time.”

Poppy, located in the Lawrence, Kansas, area, designs and creates residential and commercial wallcoverings in-house, and ships them worldwide. They currently have a four-person team and operate out of a 3,000 sq. ft. warehouse.

Breaking Out of the Local Scene

Even though Poppy ships its wallpapers worldwide, Koehn had, before its founding, roots in a local signage business.

“My wife Jennifer is a textile designer by trade, so before Poppy, she was primarily designing women’s wear. And then for me, I’ve always been in printing and signage. I worked part-time for a shop when I was in college, and then when I was 23 I opened my own print shop,” Koehn says.

After running the print shop for a few years, Koehn says he and Hunt were seeking to figure out ways to create a business that wasn’t so “hyper-local.” They wanted to find a way to utilize their skills as a team — and that’s where Poppy was born.

“Between her ability to make patterns and prints, and my ability to print things, she came up with the idea of wallpaper. So, around 2016, we hopped in and started to go to trade shows. We did the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and showed off the first original designs. And from there, we sold the sign company and just focused entirely on wallpaper,” Koehn says.

To help market their product, Koehn says the use of social media and attending tradeshows were two significant factors in helping the business grow. He emphasizes that utilizing tradeshows for one-on-one time with potential customers is invaluable, and that those types of events have “always been good”
to Poppy.

And thanks to social media — where Koehn says they’ve been “throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks” — Poppy has gained attention from online retailers like Anthropology, Perigold, and Afternoon Light, where consumers can find and purchase Poppy’s wallpaper designs.

In addition to online retailers, Poppy also has showrooms in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Toronto, Canada.

Moving From Signs to Design

Typically, starting a new business venture is a nerve-wracking endeavor full of unexpected bumps and turns. Koehn says, however, he was ready for a change.

“I’ve got to admit, the transition was actually pretty smooth. For me, when it came to the sign company, I was kind of burnt out on it after doing it for 15 years. There’s a lot of project management. Every single order is custom, and in the sign industry you might have 100 products, but a lot of those products have to be made in a specific or different way every time,” Koehn says. “In the décor market, there’s obviously different hurdles and different obstacles, but it’s been easier. Walls are flat and we have a standard catalog of designs, so we’re not creating everything from scratch for every single order.”

Koehn points out that with any small business, there are hiccups and hurdles, but overall, he and Hunt agree it’s better than the business models they were running before.

Koehn also recognizes that an increasing number of wide-format print service providers are looking
to get into the interior décor segment. That said, he prides himself on the fact that Poppy has successfully utilized wide-format while still remaining entirely in the décor space.

For PSPs looking to expand into the segment, Koehn warns that it’s an “entirely different ballgame.” He explains that for the price point at which some of the wallpaper must be sold, everything has to be 100% accurate every time.

Quality of the most important thing. "Your color can’t be off, and you must be meticulous in record keeping. You have to really know what you’re doing. So, I think that when people hear about wide-format printing in the home décor space, and they want to get involved, they need to know it’s way different than what the majority of PSPs are probably used to, as far as customer relations: how you talk to people, how you market your product, and then the quality that’s required,” Koehn says.

It’s About Building a Brand

If you were to ask Koehn what has allowed Poppy to be so successful in the interior décor space, he’d tell you it’s thanks to his wife’s talent and creativity.

“You can break in as a print service provider, but you need to have a house brand like we do, where you print your own designs. You have to have a product or design that people want to purchase. The product has to be desirable. If you don’t have a talented pattern designer on staff, it is hard to break into the space. The products we sell are not utilitarian like traditional wide-format goods, and without Jennifer’s irreplaceable skill set, we wouldn’t be successful,” Koehn says.

Room For Growth

As for Poppy Print Studio’s future, Koehn says he and Jennifer are focused on continued growth — and are even considering eventually adding different products.

“We’re dedicated to wallpaper at this point, but we’re considering and planning and thinking about different products. But for now we’re just continuing to improve efficiencies and be better every day," Koehn says.

"The way that we produce things now is starkly different than it was when we started, so we’re just trying to continue to be lean and put money into technology, procedures, good people, and trying to grow in a smart way."