Local screen-printing business offers gift options and more

By Bethany Adams, For The Tribune

TRUSSVILLE — Christmas is calling, and with the shopping days flying by, many shoppers are searching for unique gift ideas. Recently, one popular option has been gifting items personalized with initials, names and more. From monogrammed tumblers to spiced-up t-shirts, one local business is ready to meet a wide range of customizing needs this holiday.

Apparel FX, which opened in 2009 and served the Clay community for over a year, moved to Trussville in 2012. Owners Dustin and Allison Reaves now serve Central Alabama from their location on Gadsden Highway. From screen-printing and softer, water-based printing to full-color process printing and embroidery, the services offered by Apparel FX meet a variety of needs, both in and out of the holiday season.

Photo by Bethany Adams

“One thing that’s been hot this year is the tumblers,” Dustin Reaves said, explaining that they offer laser-engraving on stainless-steel drinkware, which is a permanent process not offered at many places. “We do screen-print specialty items too, like tote-bags and stuff like that,” he added. “Anything that the customer wants screen-printed, we can pretty much handle that.”

In addition to gift items, the company provides customization for corporations, individuals and more. But one of the more popular aspects of the business is the local team wear.

“We do team jerseys and local fan wear for a lot of the schools around here,” Reaves said. The demand from some schools is so high that some apparel is made available for walk-in customers.

For other customization needs, the company offers an online tool called the T-shirt Designer, which allows customers to create their own artwork for personalized apparel items. Reaves compared it to the tools used by companies like Custom Ink, but explained that their version has one big advantage.

“We give the customer the ability to design exactly what they want, and then we can work with them from there to give them the right thing on the right material,” he said.

He also explained that a lot of people who go to websites like Custom Ink are surprised by the price tag.

“We found that, on average, we’re about 20 to 30 percent cheaper than Custom Ink,” he said. “And people are usually really surprised, because they think that buying online is a lot cheaper than buying it from a small business.”

Another complaint that Reaves has heard about shopping online concerns vinyl cut-out products, which have become popular on websites like Etsy. He explained that customers find that these orders often don’t turn out as expected or are of an inferior quality.

“Most of the time, the product that we’re using to decorate apparel or anything like that is going to be far superior and have a lot longer life span that anything that your non-commercial business is using,” he said. He also explained that ordering from a brick-and-mortar business allows customers to see what they are buying before they buy it.

Despite an onslaught of internet-based options, Reaves said that the Trussville community has shown a lot of support for local business. “I think that, on a very broad scale, the people of Trussville have been very good to us, and they seem to have the shop small, shop local mentality,” he said.

Because a lot of small business are struggling to compete with larger chains, he explained that the company tries to give back to the community as much as possible. “Even if we can’t do something someone’s looking for, we try to find them a Trussville-based business that will be able to help them out and do those things,” he said, adding that he and his family love the city. “It’s a great place to live… We look to having a long-term investment in the community, both personally and as a business.”

Apparel FX is located at 8331 Gadsden Highway and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, and to try out the T-shirt Designer, visit Apparelfx.com.