Business Spotlight: Riverstreet Advertising

by Ashleigh Behlmann

SBJ Contributing Writer

sbj@sbj.net

River Street Advertising keeps ideas flowing for its clients.

From standard items such as mugs and pencils to more unusual items such as beach balls, oven mitts and toothpicks, River Street Advertising offers clients access to approximately 650,000 promotional products.

The company branched off from Crane-based Stone County Garment in 1999. Both companies are still operated by founder Tom Heydt.

"We had always made some kind of garment, and companies wanted us to start printing them for them," said salesman Rick Barr, who has worked for Heydt since 1982. "So we started doing that, and then we decided we should just reach out and start doing some for the public, also."

Heydt was out of the country and unavailable for comment in this story.

Barr said River Street Advertising is essentially a public extension of Stone County Garment.

"We opened here so people can come in and see us and see the products instead of just seeing the Crane address and phone number in the book. Here people know where we are and they can walk in and see the goods," said Barr.

Services River Street Advertising offers include in-house embroidery and screen printing. Products commonly purchased include cups, mugs and pens for giveaways for businesses at trade shows, said Barr.

Barr said the company deals with a wide range of businesses. "The majority of our business is in this area, but we have some in outside areas like Oklahoma and Memphis, as well. We deal with anybody, from a business that has five people to a business that has a thousand," said Barr.

One of the company's accounts is Ovations Vending, which provides vendor smocks and other garments for minor-league baseball facilities.

As River Street Advertising faces plenty of competition in the area, it strives to provide businesses with quality service.

"There are a lot of people who do the same thing that we do; there are probably 20 to 30 businesses in town," said Barr. "We do business delivery: we don't have them come out and pick it up. We try to go out and meet them, be a little more face-to-face. It's more personal service, and it's nice for us to get to meet the people that we are dealing with."

Another aspect which those at River Street Advertising feel sets them apart is the fact that they offer in-house digitizing. According to Barr this entails "getting the logo prepped and ready. We don't have to send it off to another company to do that." The company employees two artists to handle the design aspect of the business.

River Street Advertising is able to assist customers in the design of their promotional product. "One of the reasons (Heydt) opened this was to get two of his sons involved in the business. One of his sons is a graphic artist and does all of our artwork," said Barr.

Tom Heydt II said working for his family's business is "all I ever wanted to do. My brother (Matthew Heydt) is the same way. I worked in Texas for a while just to get experience working for other companies, then came back and got my degree at SMS."

Matthew Heydt is production manager, which involves monitoring the production schedule and delegating tasks. "Basically he makes sure things get done the way they are supposed to," said Tom Heydt II.

Heydt II draws from his experience as a graphic designer to assist customers in personalizing their purchases.

"I've done so many things that I can pull a little bit out of a lot of different designs. We have people walk in and not really know what they want so we'll suggest a few things. Or maybe they will walk in here and see something they like in a few different designs. We can mix and match the stock ideas also," said Heydt II.

Customers also can use a Web site to view available products and designs.

Prices vary based on quantity and nature of items purchased, as well as on the complexity of the designs involved. Barr believes that the experience of the staff of River Street Advertising, most of whom have been with the company for six to eight years, is an asset to the company and its clients.

"We try to work with people's budgets. We have a good staff. They know what they are doing, and they can go out and find a product and buy it for a good price. Less turnover makes that a lot easier," said Barr.

Heydt II and Barr said the company has experienced more growth than they had anticipated.

"Originally, we didn't want to get as big as we are getting," said Heydt II. "Right now we're discussing how we need to expand. But we're up to the challenge, and we keep experimenting to find out what else we can do."