As many of us have witnessed the decline of manufacturing in the United States over the past few decades, one small company in Virginia has finally fired its first salvo towards bringing back American ingenuity.
After several years of watching their customers switch to purchasing boxes from foreign countries, Prestar Packaging, Inc. decided enough was enough. For years, Prestar had battled with the unfair practices of foreign manufacturers paying $1.00 a day wages, which drastically affected prices of boxes being shipped into the U.S. It became very apparent that something would have to change quickly. Knowing that there would be no governmental intervention to help reverse the situation, Prestar decided to not give up, as so many other manufacturers have done through the years, but dig in and fight back. Apparently, they have been able to succeed and in a large way.
Prestar Packaging is a rigid box manufacturer located in Southwest Virginia. Their primary business is making paperboard boxes for such things as games, candy, and pharmaceuticals. For years one segment of their business was manufacturing Gift Certificate Boxes for large malls and resorts, however it was a steady decline as most retailers had started the move towards gift cards. For several years some of Prestar’s customers began to inquire and ask for gift card boxes that would be affordable and still retain the time honored tradition and feel of giving a gift. At the time, the only options available for packaging gift cards were by using a folder, bag or tin. After some in-depth research, it was discovered that the people buying gift cards were unhappy with what was available as the folders and bags just did not have that “gift” feeling and the tins were too expensive. With that news came a flurry of development and testing by Prestar to create the ultimate Gift Card Packaging solution. Last April Prestar announced a new division called Creative Carding, primarily devoted just to the gift card industry. Leading the way was the development and introduction of their new gift card box which was a complete redesign and totally different concept than ever seen before. The new box is a one piece clamshell style box with an insert that firmly holds the gift card in place. The box was designed so that literally hundreds of different paper designs, patterns, and colors could be used on the box as well as any type of printing or embossing. Needless to say it was an instant hit, but that is only half of the story!
“We knew we had something special, but we also realized it was only a matter of time before copies started pouring out of China”, said Anne Chrisman, Vice President. “Throughout the whole design process, we knew we had to do things to thwart any possible chances of having all our hard work copied.” With that in mind, Prestar also redesigned the way that the boxes would be made starting with the materials all the way through the actual process of converting the materials into boxes. “Fortunately we already had the largest portion of the process in house with the installation of 2 new machines . We could not stop there as we went ahead and developed other systems to help decrease the labor cost of the boxes “ Chrisman stated. As Prestar soon discovered, all of their hard work and investments had paid off. They are finding that many customers have expressed their complete relief to now finding a suitable packaging solution. Orders that had previously been placed with foreign countries are now coming to Prestar. “ As everyone knows, PRICE is always one of the most driving factors in business, however quality and customer service also play a huge role in choosing a vendor.” “At Prestar we are readily accessible to assist our customers”. “Everything we did here at Prestar was focused on giving our customers something new that could be printed or designed in any manner to allow them to have the perfect gift card box”. “Best of all, it blows our customers minds once they find out our prices are at least half of what they have been paying!” One other point that makes these boxes worth another look is the fact that they are made from 80% post recyclable products and are recyclable. “We have it all… a very up-scale gift card packaging solution that is environmentally friendly and very affordable”.
So what does this mean for other American manufacturers?
For more information check out http://www.CreativeCarding.com.
