John Pack is looking forward to Saturday’s Main Street Day.
While the Ripon Chamber of Commerce’s 32nd annual event will again feature a car show, antique fair, live music, arts & crafts, etc., he’ll be conducting a soft opening during that time for his Ripon Print Studio, 201 S. Stockton Ave.
The place once occupied by George’s Bike Shop was going to be the future home of Level 40 Public House. Two months earlier, the Ripon Planning Commission approved plans for the trendy eatery.
But those plans fell through. At the same time, Pack, who is originally from Chicago – he also lived in Fremont and Manteca for a short time – was in search of a location in town to open his business.
A visit to the Chamber of Commerce provided Pack with that chance meeting with property owner John Mangelos, who, as timing would have it, had an available place.
From color copies to banners, A-frame signs, or promotional items, Ripon Print Studio is a full-service print firm.
“I saw there was gap to fill (in terms of printing in Ripon),” said Pack, 39, who has been in the print business all of his life.
He hopes to make Ripon Print Studio a “5-Star Yelp Review” similar to that of Calinoi (see: www.calinois.com), his company in Fremont. Pack, who, along with his wife Rebecca, moved to Ripon about a year ago, noted the name was derived from the two states that called home – California and Illinois.
He’s a third-generation printer. His grandfather learned the printing trade some 30 years ago, moving from his Kentucky home to Chicago. As a result, Pack and his father were both etched in the printing business.
“That’s all I’ve ever known,” he said.
Converting the 1,960-square-foot building into a place of business has been a “labor of love” for Pack and others.
He has Don Rowe and Josh Johnson helping him out, doing commercial work for Tesla, a Fortune 500 company, and North Face, an outdoor product company specializing in outerwear, fleece, coats, shirts and footwear, to name a few, right out of the Ripon location.
For the past month, they moved and installed some heavy equipment for the printing business while redoing the floors, applying a fresh coat of paint, and reclaiming and putting up the antiquated wood from Mangelos’ Barnwood Restaurant & Catering.
“It took two of us about 30 hours to pull out (what was left of) the old barn wood from the restaurant,” Pack said.
From that, he was able to convert the wood – in this case, portions of various old barns from throughout the area – taken from the interior of the old restaurant into the front counter and wall paneling for his Ripon Print Studio.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, those attending Main Street Day are welcome to stop by this newest Ripon business.
Food and refreshments will be available not to mention some sales specials.
As for regular business hours, Ripon Print Studio’s schedule will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.
Information is available by calling 209.924.9700 or online via www.facebook.com/riponprintstudio.