Salem One: Achieving Wide-Format Growth Through Acquisitions

Adaptability is integral to any printing business’ success. At Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Salem One, that is certainly true. The 233-employee operation had $7.83 million in wide-format sales in 2023, up 412.1% from the prior year's wide-format sales.

Phil Kelley Jr., CEO and president of Salem One, attributes this change to organic growth and M&A activity.

Last year, Salem One partnered with private equity, which is in line with the company’s vision, “where we believe we can grow from 35 million [dollars] to over $100 million in the next three to five years,” he says.

Additionally, Kelley points to Salem One’s January 2024 acquisition of iTek Graphics, Charlotte, North Carolina, as a driver of growth.

“The acquisition we did was purposefully in wide-format,” Kelley explains. “... We had invested in wide-format equipment only six years ago; we’re kind of late to the game, to be honest. Positively, it means a lot of people had gone through several different levels of technology as print technology has grown, so we got in in a wonderful spot from a print technology standpoint.”

With the acquisition, came new equipment, including an HP Indigo 15000, 6900, and 7600; and a Durst wide-format machine.

“We have sizably and radically expanded our corporate signage equipment profile over the past three years, which has led to this growth,” Kelley says. “Most of it is latex-based ink, although, of course, there’s some variations within that, which has given us a lot of variety,” such as wood printing.

While it hasn’t been “an absolute straight line,” Salem One has grown, on average, 17% annually since 1997, Kelley says.

About the company’s growth, the second-generation printer says it’s all about “strategy, strategy, strategy.” For instance, he says introducing your company as a “strategic corporate communication solutions company” rather than as a printer gives customers a fuller picture of your offerings.

“We want to talk to the client about the strategy,” Kelley says. “… Typically, we’re talking to large clients that are struggling with something within their supply chain and execution side. The printing of a poster or sign is not that difficult these days, but doing it across 100 different retail locations, that’s typically how we’re approaching the client.”

Kelley expects continued growth through the melding of digital and print communication.

“If I’m a large brand and I have half a million consumers I’m trying to reach, I better be able to communicate individually based on those consumers’ [preferences],” he says. “That to me is where there’s massive and rapid change happening with our clients.”

Kelley advises others to do the same. “Let’s all continue to be great printers, but let’s get to the strategic side of what print is: We are the home for where digital and physical marketing solutions come together,” he says. “I would promote everyone from small to large to grab that, to do something a little extra, and we as an industry can grow on an overall basis. I believe as everybody else does better, we do better.”