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The history of Wicked Stickers
For those of you who are always asking... "How did Wicked Stickers get started?"
1994 – Wicked Stickers didn’t start out, as the name implies, that way at all. Wicked Stickers started out as “Mike’s Custom Neon”. At the time, holding down a full time job as a graphic artist & sign designer for another company, I didn’t own my own vinyl machine. I didn’t want a conflict of interest with the vinyl company I was working for, so I focused my side business on electrical sign work. I had been making, repairing and installing neon signs for a couple of years already, working at yet another sign company, so the knowledge was enough to help earn a few extra dollars here and there… and keep me in the direction I was going.
1995 – I picked January 1st to start a new beginning. I decided it was time to break out on my own and start my new “home based” business. “Letter Graphics” would be the new name. Now, away from the electrical, I purchased a new 20” vinyl cutter, new computer, graphics programs and enough vinyl to start me rollin’ down the road to success! Credit cards, racked up to around twelve thousand dollars, and the absolute minimum amount of equipment and supplies that would be required to get the show on the road, I was looking for new clients. Needless to say… getting a new base of customers is not an easy task when you’re a one-man-show working out of your basement. After about a year of putting myself in debt, I decided it was time to go back to a full time job and run my vinyl business on the side again.
1998 – After several years of dabbling in the sign business, it became clear to me that I should start incorporating more automotive related graphics into my line. I believe every vehicle I’ve ever owned has been tinted, raised or lowered, a new set of wheels and anything else I could possibly do to modify them. However, many of the “business” vehicles I had lettered always seemed to be lacking that modified or “artistic” flare. So why not mix my love of custom automobiles with my chosen profession? And based off the old car movie, that most of the older generation will remember, I decided to rename my business to… “American Graffiti”. Still only operating as a side business, I never really went gung-ho into any big projects.
2001 – Timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The company I was working for was downsizing, and “The Fast and the Furious” movie had just come out. It was the only thing I could possibly do, to refresh the business name and start basing the content of my work on the vehicles I admired so much. I quit my job, moved my business into the front corner of a new automotive accessories business here in town and started cutting vinyl graphics for all the race and show car enthusiasts around. It was the birth of “Wicked Stickers”!
2002 – I was approached by another local business owner that was moving his automotive and truck business into a 20,000 square foot building, and wanted me to move my business in with his. It was a good relationship. His customers of twenty-plus years became my new customers, and mine became his. The only thing the building, as a business, was lacking was window tinting. I had some experience in it already, and hired a couple of others that had been tinting for years. So came the new “tag line” to Wicked Stickers… “Window Tint & Graphics”.
2003 – Business had grown so much by the latter half of the year, we decided it was time to move into our own place. Kind of “off the beaten path”, we found a 2,500 square foot space, perfect to suit our needs. With the outstanding employees, and our new building, we’re capable of working on everything from motorcycle graphics to full semi-trucks and trailers.
2005 - With a little bit of remodeling this year, we’ll be up to over 3,000 square feet of window tinting and graphics facility… and now, integrating e-commerce into our site, and a few new faces… we’ll be shipping stickers out nationwide... year round.
The success of Wicked Stickers so far, has rested on so many different people’s shoulders other than my own… it’s hard to figure out who to thank. From employees, who aren’t just workers, but friends… to the support of all our customers, family and friends that have never let the dream die. Thanks to all of you, and especially the ones that keep things going around here. You know exactly who you are!
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