The Fine Print Is Getting Smaller

The shrinking commercial printing industry got a bit smaller this month following the acquisition of Fox Printing in Sun Valley by Harman Press. The North Hollywood company is taking on Fox’s clients and salespeople, but not its equipment or building, which will be sold separately. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is expected to double Harman’s revenue, which the company previously projected at roughly $4 million in its last fiscal year. Several factors contributed to the deal’s completion: both companies are third-generation family-owned businesses that are union shops. They also have similar-sized workforces and serve niche industries. “There was a joint realization we are the same shop in two different locations,” said Harman President Phil Goldner, who operates the company with his brother, Fred Goldner, and father, Jay Goldner. Harman closed the sale in early February, about six months after Fox Printing owner Gary Fox agreed to the terms. As a union shop, Fox was limited in selling the business to one that was also unionized for legal reasons. Workers at Fox and Harman are represented by Teamsters Local No. 572. “I have been in the business my whole life, and I had a good feeling about doing it and (Harman) likewise with me,” Fox said. The vast majority of Fox’s clients are local unions, while Harman serves Democratic political campaigns, the entertainment industry and union locals. The companies have been survivors in an industry that suffered during the recession and shrunk over the past few years. There has been less demand for printer as websites replace brochures, newsletters and other printed material. Doug Brown, the business agent with Teamsters Local No. 572, said technology also has eroded printing jobs on the production side. Equipment that was formerly operated by 10 workers is now replaced by printers needing only two. “Each time a new round of technology comes around, it seems more jobs are lost,” said Brown, whose local represents 200 workers at 25 L.A.-area printing companies, in addition to Harman. Family roots Prior to the Fox acquisition, Harman had about 25 employees, including three salespeople. The sales staff will double with the addition of Fox employees, including Gary Fox’s son, Todd Fox, and stepson, David Wardlow. Harman also has added a salesman who came from another Valley firm, Coronet Printing in Canoga Park. Fox’s other son, Brett Fox, joins Harman on the production side. Harman was a stationery business in Hollywood when Goldner’s grandfather, Joseph, purchased it in 1943 and added the offset printing operations. The company relocated to North Hollywood last year. Fox Printing had a workforce of 15 employees at its peak, and 10 at the time of the sale, said Fox, who declined to state sales figures but said the company had between 120 and 140 clients. Fox was founded in 1936 by Gary Fox’s parents in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The company moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1985 and has been at its San Fernando Road location since 1990. “A lot of our customers go back to when my dad was running the show,” Gary Fox said. Bob Lindgren, president and chief executive of the Printing Industries Association Inc. of Southern California, a Los Angeles trade group, said he expects the deal will strengthen Harman. In the Los Angeles metro area there are about 30,000 people working in the printing industry and about 300 of them are represented by a union, he said. Out of the union commercial printing establishments, less than a handful dominate the market of work from trade unions, insurance firms catering to trade unions and Democratic political candidates. “It is not a big market but they (Harman) have a big piece of it,” Lindgren said. The deal with Fox also represents a generational transition as the fathers give way to sons. Gary Fox has been semi-retired and Jay Goldner has an advisory role at Harman. The Goldner and Fox sons are all in the same mid-40s age range. They all met for their first sales meeting on Feb. 10. “If they were destined to continue the legacy of Fox, this is how they would do it,” Phil Goldner said.