At first glance, there seems to be little in common between Daryl Lund, 62, a Chehalis City Councilor, Robin Ronnell, 61, a lifelong printing aficionado and Shakara Ryan, a Centralia resident who, at 28, has worked in seven different customer service roles.
After a less than 20-minute chat though, what they share becomes obvious. In an interview earlier this month, Lund, Ronnell and Ryan each spoke of the new Minuteman Press store at the Lewis County Mall the way a wide-eyed, experimental scientist would describe a brand new laboratory. Lund, the store’s owner, opened the location in September.
Ronnell, a longtime employee of Advocate Printing, has been working with paper and prints since he could stand “on a case of paper,” he said. Because Minuteman Press is an international business, Ronnell said, the possibilities for new projects are boundless.
“Basically, we can do anything that’s printed,” Ronnell said, listing billboards, T-shirts, posters and much more.
Ryan, after working as the print supervisor at Staples in Chehalis, feels similarly. Because Minuteman Press is solely focused on prints, Ryan is able to work with a larger variety of papers and colors.
“I love printing. It’s one of my favorite things to do,” Ryan said.
Lund, a longtime city councilor and former owner of the Chehalis Theater, is just thrilled to be running a business again.
“I got bored,” Lund said with a chuckle.
His interest in Minuteman Press was piqued “After I saw what the franchise could do and all the support (the company) could provide,” Lund said.
Due to the huge variety of projects, Ronnell said he spends much of his time consulting customers, both to help them save money and to ensure the product matches their vision. Compared to online print order shops, he and Ryan said, Minuteman can do large photos and posters at affordable rates. And Minuteman Press can do full-bleed printing in-house, Ryan said, meaning colors can go all the way to the edge of the page.
“It’s a different world for me,” she said, later adding, “It’s definitely kind of a culture shock.”
The business has so far worked with a few local organizations and nonprofits, but Lund said he’s excited to ramp up the press shop’s work.
So far, his favorite project has been printing a photo of his uncle for a 95th birthday celebration.
“That kind of stuff means a lot to people,” Lund said. “This is a memory that captured that time. And that’s the only thing they have other than their own head. It’s hard to share what you’re thinking in your own head, but, if you show somebody that photo of your kid or your 95-year-old uncle. That’s what it is: being able to share.”
The new store is located in the Lewis County Mall next to Midway Cinema at 151 NE Hampe Way, Chehalis. The store can be reached at 360-345-6813, and its hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Customers can come inside with a flash drive or order work through https://minuteman.com.
