Trade Binderies — Transformation Time

“There was a lot of overflow work in those days, and we were able to provide a complete bindery service to most of the printers we dealt with,” Shear recalls. “Markups were healthy in those days.”

My, how things have changed. Many commercial printers have opted to bolster their in-house bindery departments with all types of finishing gear, providing the over-used phrase “one-stop shopping” for their customers. Trade binderies, in turn, took a hit—and had to find new ways to remain profitable.