The following article was originally published by Wide-format Impressions. To read more of their content, subscribe to their newsletter, Wide-Format Impressions.
It’s not that you have to be related to the owners and employees at The Dream Junction to work there, it’s just that in this case everyone is: Brother and sister, husband and wife, father, aunt and uncle, niece and nephew. They all came together a few years ago when one of the owners had an idea for a shirt business. Being in the music industry helped them gain coverage on social media of people wearing their designs. As word spread, fans wanted to buy the garments, so a small shop was rented to start production. It didn’t take long to realize silk screening wasn’t going to work — the designs were too complex and silk screening was too manual and time-consuming.
The Dream Junction decided to take a leap into the digital printing world after trying a smaller DTG printer. They soon realized that for the quality and volume they wanted to produce they would need to invest in a serious direct-to-garment printer. They decided on the Kornit (Booth 1617) Avalanche 1000 and have never looked back. With new technology at hand, they sent a series of samples to various e-commerce sites and received a visit from one. The reps loved the fantastic print quality but were concerned about the shop’s small scale. Believing in their ability to deliver, the family bought a second Avalanche and won the business.
Why Kornit?
The Dream Junction is committed to becoming a major player in the e-commerce DTG print business. By partnering with Kornit they were able to build a state-of-the-art DTG printing and fulfillment plant. Orders come directly to The Dream Junction via the Web, and are printed and shipped to the buyer in a seamless, automated process. With Kornit DTG printers it doesn’t matter whether the order is for 5,000 or for one design at a time, Kornit’s system makes orders of any size economically viable.
Today, The Dream Junction occupies more than 30,000 square feet and runs six Kornit Avalanche 1000 printers. They developed proprietary software solutions for their Kornit printers to handle their unique business process flow. With the software and hardware combination, anyone in their facility can operate the printers.
Kornit’s integrated pretreatment process is crucial to professional-looking garments. The ability to print over zippers, seams and pockets is important, and is a major point of difference from antiquated screen printing.
The Dream Junction values its partnership with Kornit and its experienced team of technicians. Personalized service and understanding of The Dream Junction’s business model is a critical component of their success.
The Dream Junction is planning to expand its printing options to handle more polyester and performance fabrics with its Kornit printers. Recognizing that the industry is moving to newer, technical fabrics they continue to work closely with Kornit to expand into other the print possibilities. They have a simple philosophy of never saying “no” to a customer. With Kornit, they don’t believe they will ever have to.