Before last year’s pandemic, Arlington-based Exhibit-A celebrated its 35 years in business, seeing growth in U.S. trade shows and considering expansion to Europe in the coming years.
From its 77,000-square-foot location on Airline Road, the company built and designed elaborate trade show exhibits, as well as point-of-purchase displays. They also handled setup, takedown, shipping and storing of the displays for clients like Hilton Worldwide, FedEx, W.M. Barr, Grace Medical, ThyssenKrupp elevators and GreatNeck tools, as well as Safran engines in Europe and other businesses in Germany and Russia.
Business was good.
Then the pandemic shut down all trade shows and conventions.
Like many businesses thwarted by the lack of personal interaction, Exhibit-A was forced to look at business alternatives.
“So, we switched gears and made hotel furniture during the pandemic and were able to get enough sales in that to keep us afloat,” Mickey Cochran, president of Exhibit-A, said. “Now we’re currently back working in trade shows, and we’ll still service the hotel industry when needed.”
But the company, located on Airline Road, still had other expansion plans. Leaders wanted a new venture for the general public to walk in and have their printing needs met. That led to the opening of Flash Signs.
Flash Signs — a 1,000-square-foot working space, rental office and conference room — is across the driveway from Exhibit-A in the 5900 block of Airline Road.
“A lot of people are working from home right now, so they might want to meet with somebody, but they don’t want to invite them to their home,” Cochran said. “Our space is more private than a coffee shop, and it’s very affordable.”
Flash Signs produces a variety of materials, including business cards, Christmas cards, Save the Date materials, yard signs, vinyl banners, poster boards, ad posters and even items like water bottles.
“We can print literally anything,” Cochran said.
He is concerned with how the COVID variants might affect future trade show and convention activity. But Cochran is already considering expansion of Flash Signs.
“We do have an eye on opening another one sometime next year,” Cochran said. “We’re looking at Collierville and Oakland but haven’t made a decision yet.”
Flash Signs opened June 30 and will hold an official ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.
“This business expansion by Exhibit-A, Inc., a long-time business in Arlington, shows their commitment to serving not just their current customers but also our community,” Arlington Chamber of Commerce Director Tonia Howell said. “The best path forward for businesses after the pandemic is to use what we have learned from the last year and a half and plan for the next disruption – whatever that is and whenever it might occur.”