SOS Printing Inc.: Dependable, Friendly Service Since 1973
Story by Sam Calhoun
“There’s an old saying, ‘Price, Quality, Service—choose any two,’” said Linda Steele, co-owner of SOS Printing. “The greatest of those is service and we desire to give people all three.”
That desire has been the tie that has bound SOS Printing Inc. since 1973. This month, the printing company celebrates 33 years of serving the High Country.
Co-owned by Linda and Steve Steele, and Kevin Conway, SOS Printing Inc. has two locations—one in Boone at 967 Rivers Street and one in Banner Elk on Highway 184 across from the entrance to Sugar Mountain.
“We take care of all forms of printing—from business cards to book publishing, up to 11 by 17 [inches]. Black and white, two-color, full-color, you name it,” said Kevin.
SOS Printing Inc. handles thousands of accounts—some for more than 30 years. Some of the company’s oldest customers are Alpine Ski Center, Footsloggers, Highway Robbery, The Mountain Times (and the Sundown Times), Boone Drug, Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity to name just a few.
According to the owners, SOS Printing Inc. is the oldest owner-run printing company in Boone—a feat accomplished with perhaps the smallest amount of employees as well.
With only four full-time employees—Kevin, Linda, Steve and Donna Sollecito—and three part-time employees, it’s hard to imagine how the minimal crew handles the workload.
“We made a concerted decision to keep it small,” said Linda. “We resisted getting big to provide service within our niche.”
What is SOS’s niche? Well, it doesn’t seem small. The company’s work includes jobs for doctors, lawyers, governments, restaurants, ski resorts, local colleges, students, homeowners, entrepreneurs and people living in Avery, Ashe and Watauga counties. SOS Printing basically works for everyone. The High Country is its niche.
SOS Printing Inc. attempts to “do more with less,” according to Kevin.
Doing more with less is kind of how it all began. The money used to start SOS Printing came from a certificate of deposit that Steve’s father put into NCNB Bank in 1973. SOS Printing Inc. was born on $15,000.
Originally from Conneaut, Ohio, Stephen Otto Steele was born in 1948. When he was 5 or 6, his family moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., moving shortly thereafter to Naples, Fla. At that time, Naples had a population of 1,200. After graduating from high school in Naples, Steve attended Stetson University in DeLand, Fla.
In DeLand, Steve met his future wife and business partner, Linda. A journalism major from Miami, Linda was also attending Stetson. On May 10, 1968, the two were married. Today, the couple has three children—Jennifer, Jesse and Shana—and four grandchildren—Jon-Stephen, 2, Evan, 4, Josh, 9, and Dylan, 11.
In the early 1970s, Steve owned a troubleshooting company for newspapers and magazines in Florida.
“It was killing me,” said Steve. “I traveled too much.”
Having young children, Steve “wanted to move to a community.” His parents had a summer home in the High Country, so he decided to come up and “rest.”
Days later, he called Linda in Florida.
“I said, ‘If you want to see me again, sell everything we own and move to Boone,’” said Steve. She did.
Finding employment was tough for Steve. He worked at Appalachian Ski Mountain for two winters and applied for work at Minor’s Printing Company, but no jobs were available. A bit tongue-in-cheek, Steve told Minor’s that if he couldn’t get a job with them then he’d just have to open his own company.
Months later, he kept his promise.
Linda and Steve ordered printing equipment in 1973 and installed it in their home on Aho Road in Blowing Rock. For a couple of months, SOS Printing Inc. operated from there, until 108½ Howard Street became available—the home of SOS Printing Inc. from 1973 to 1987.
Ironically enough, the new location for SOS was directly across the street from Minor’s Printing Company—an area Steve jokingly referred to as “printer’s alley.”
The first couple of years were tough. With a T-square, a typewriter and a press, SOS Printing survived the crash of the economy in 1974.
“We hung in there. We helped a lot of people out,” said Linda, who joked that in those years, they would barter for payment. “It took service and being a part of the community. We think it’s good business to go out of our way to help people. Service—it’s the reason we’ve been here for 33 years. It’s just good business. If you don’t have your reputation, what have you got?”
So where did the name SOS come from?
In the early days of the company, Linda told Steve—whose real name is Stephen Otto Steele—that “anybody with those initials should use them,” so the name was born. And it was fitting. People come to SOS Printing Inc. for help—much like the international Morse code distress signal. In fact, SOS’s first sign was in Morse code, but after too many customers inquired why a domino was on the company’s sign, Linda decided it was time for a change.
Another change came in 1976. That year Kevin, in college and unemployed, decided to check out the High Country. “I was thinking of transferring to ASU,” he said. Born at Mitchell Field at Hempstead, NY, Kevin and Steve are cousins. His father was in the Air Force, so Kevin was raised at various Air Force bases in the 1950s (Yuma, Ariz., and Lincoln, Neb.). Kevin’s father died in a plane crash while being stationed outside of Paris, France, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery when Kevin was 6 years old.
“Dad’s about 50 yards from President Kennedy’s grave on a knoll under one of the trees. My mother was from Cleveland and dad from Conneaut. Both grandparents were close so mom moved my brother and I back to Conneaut and raised us,” said Kevin.
Kevin met and married Jane Blackwell Conway in 1981. She worked for the old Wilcox Travel, which became Templeton Travel.
“We met after a softball game in the corner of the old Sollecito’s, where Mellow Mushroom is today. Templeton Travel was where SOS is today. The move from Howard Street to Rivers was easy. Jane came home one night and said they were moving to a new building. I called Phil that night and asked if we could move in after they moved out. He said sure and it just happened,” said Kevin.
Although Kevin had no background in printing, he purchased Blue Ridge Printing in West Jefferson. Shortly thereafter, the cousins decided to consolidate both companies into SOS Printing. Five U-Haul trucks transported every piece of equipment and stock from Blue Ridge Printing to SOS Printing.
As more and more “mom and pop” shops go the way of the dodo, and franchises that send most of their printing work to corporate printers take over the landscape, SOS Printing Inc. survives on the community members the company has served for three decades.
“We’ve seen the community go through thick and thin,” said Linda.
“We just try and help where we can and try to make the next day better than the one before,” added Kevin.
SOS Printing Inc. gives thousands of in-kind donations per year to organizations such as DARE, the Western Youth Network and the American Cancer Society.
Over the years, SOS Printing Inc. has witnessed the industry change quite a bit as well. From typewriters to Compugraphics to personal computers, SOS Printing has adapted to them all, learning while producing. From having no copier to having analog and then digital copiers; from doing everything face to face with customers to sending many jobs via email—proofs, correspondence and product; from working longer on a single project in the early days to having many, many projects that get done quicker because of advances in technology; SOS Printing has handled it all in stride—even though they still use some machines that they had around in 1974.
“The amount of work you can do now is five to ten times faster than you used to do and sadly, it requires less people,” said Kevin. “Before the upgrading and modernization of the machinery, these four people would be seven or eight.”
Thirty percent of SOS’s business is now done through email, “and it gets more everyday,” said Kevin, who credits the time saved on proofreading to email. “It’s unbelievable. But the downside is that we don’t see as many people as we used to.”
Kevin explained that a print shop used to be comparable to the neighborhood barbershop or corner grocery in the 1970s and 1980s—people in and out every week, exchanging stories and pleasantries. “It’s not the bustle that it used to be. I miss that,” he said.
But they do see people still. Steve regularly has visitors in Banner Elk and some customers who have frequented SOS for three decades still come in to say hello even if they don’t have a job waiting.
“It was a small town thirty years ago and it’s a small town today,” said Kevin. “It’s the people we love. People in Boone are very nice people. That’s the charm of Boone—you see people on the street or in the shop and you talk to them. I enjoy the work. I enjoy the people.”
“We all enjoy what we do,” said Linda.
“I find printing rewarding in the sense that I’m making something—there’s personal satisfaction in that,” added Kevin.
So what does the future hold for SOS Printing Inc.? Another 33 years in business?
“I’m going to work here until I die,” laughed Steve.
“We plan on being here,” added Linda.
“I guess if we have to. We keep practicing at it,” sidled Kevin.
SOS Printing is located at 967 Rivers Street in Boone and on Highway 184 in Banner Elk across from the entrance to Sugar Mountain Resort. Hours for both stores are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call the Boone store at 828-264-4262, the Banner Elk store at 828-898-6336 or 828-963-4053 or email soslinda@bellsouth.net.
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