ImprintLogo regains strong footing in marketplace

PORT CLINTON — A longstanding company with deep local roots is experiencing a comeback of epic proportions. Spouses Craig and Kellye Stephens, who reside on Catawba Island, own and operate ImprintLogo, a national promotions products business. It specializes in supplying promotional products with a specific company's logo on those items as well as producing custom-printed apparel. While based in Port Clinton, the business serves clients nationwide. Some clients and/or partnerships established by ImprintLogo include Carvana, the online used car retailer; Fireball, the alcohol company; and "NBC Sunday Night Football," one of the most viewed weekly TV programs for years. ImprintLogo, for instance, created pens, beach balls and mini footballs, respectively, with these aforementioned companies, placing their branding on these products. Craig — the company's CEO along with its founder and co-owner — received much of his business acumen from his grandfather, Howard Stephens, who owned Stephens Printing in Sandusky. It operated from 1943 to 1970. Prior to this, Howard owned the Sandusky Daily News, a competitor to the Register. The Register eventually bought out the Daily News. A third-generation entrepreneur, Craig also gave credit to his parents, John and Karen, who also worked with promotional products. Both Craig, a 1988 Sandusky High School graduate, and Kellye — the company's other co-owner and client relations manager who recently retired as a Sandusky Schools elementary teacher — provided some additional background about the company's rise, fall and recent positive turnaround: • The profile: "ImprintLogo.com was founded and launched in 1999 in the infancy of e-commerce online stores. We were one of the very first companies to sell promo products online. MiniThrowBalls.com, which is a niche website, was launched in 2009 and has been a substantial part of this business as this website grew rapidly." • The commitment: "What separates our company from most online promo companies is we have a deep investment in the technology of our stores. Each product has an online designer where you can see your logo on the product from pens to tote bags to stress relievers and so on." • The downfall: "COVID was very devastating to promo companies, and many of our clients purchase products for events such as trade shows and corporate gatherings. Being that nobody knew how long this might take to get back to 'normal,' we made a very difficult decision by selling a recently built building we built just three years prior." • The transition: "We downsized our physical location to a smaller, less costly location. This positioned us to be able to hold out until sales and supply were back, which we are getting back to. Lots of emphasis has been put into our websites: ImprintLogo.com, MiniThrowBalls.com, PenMonster.com and FundraiserOrnaments.com." • The successes: "By tripling our product selection from 2019 to 2022, we are having the biggest year to date." • The future goals: "We want to continue to keep adding products to our websites and create and maintain relationships in business with the business-to-business market." People can learn more information by visiting imprintlogo.com or emailing orders@imprintlogo.com.