Managing Growth as Brewster Grows

Every local business has a story worth sharing with the community. This series is as much about supporting companies as it is about celebrating the places and faces that make our community special.

Our spotlight today is on the Benways.

Business: Brewster Screen Printing, Inc.
Owners: Stuart, Jeanette and Peter Benway
Website: http://brewsterscreenprinting.com/
Address: 4005 Danbury Road, Suite 4, Brewster, NY 10509

How did you come up with the name?
We wanted the name to be easy to understand, search for online and remember. So, we went with the obvious, we are a screen printing shop in Brewster!

Why choose that location? Why start a business in this town?
Brewster is growing and we wanted to be part of the growth. Our location on Danbury Road has a lot of traffic passing by (and stopping in), it is a bright, sunny space and we have a view of Haines Pond in the winter months.

Briefly, what business are you in?
We make custom printed and embroidered tee shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc.

What’s the most difficult moment or challenge you’ve faced as a business owner?
We opened in 2010, and Peter, who was 19 years old at the time, was in the shop alone when our first customer drove up and parked. Peter thought to himself, “What do I do now?” But then together they created a design and selected a color and style of shirt, and the business was off to a successful start. Since then Peter has impressed numerous customers with his creativity, knowledge of the product, and youthful energy.

Were there any challenges that made you second guess your decision to be an entrepreneur?
Managing growth is a challenge. Our hours of printing shirts get longer and we need to hire help. We consider purchasing new equipment and we rearrange the shop to better meet our needs. But so far we have not second guessed our decision to open the shop.

What’s been your favorite moment or proudest achievement since opening?
We feel proud when we see customers around town wearing the shirts we printed for them. Peter buys lunch at Frangelina’s Deli and he enjoys seeing Frank and his staff wearing the custom shirts that advertise the deli.

What’s the most innovative idea your employees or customers have had that you put into practice?
Peter wanted to increase the printing capacity of the shop by adding an automatic press, but most of these presses require a loud compressor which was not possible in this small store front. So, last spring when Anatol launched the electric Volt, the quietest press on the market, we ordered one, and ours will be one of the first of these presses to be delivered and installed in the USA.

How do you deal with difficult customers?
Our goal is to solve customer service issues so that the customer leaves saying, “That worked out well,” and generally we are successful at that. But occasionally that is not possible. Recently a customer ordered custom shirts in size medium, we printed them, and it turned out that they should have ordered size large. We offered a discount on the re-order, but the customer wanted us to replace them for free which we couldn’t agree to.

How does your business give back or get involved in the community?
As we grow, we hope to become more involved with community events. For now we barter with the Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce and we offer discounts for charity walk shirts.

The plan behind this series at Patch is to shine the spotlight on all our favorite local businesses, and to learn a little about the ones we may not know that well.

This is as much about supporting local businesses as it is about celebrating the places and faces that make our community special.

Here’s a simple form where local business owners can answer a few quick questions to be part of this ongoing feature.