A Family Tradition

In 1956, B.J. Thomas, grandfather of current CEO, Bryan Thomas, and Marketing Director, Brianna Long, founded Thomas Blueprint in Dallas. The company started out with one small location on Greenville Avenue and functioned as a traditional blueprint company. In 1958 at the age of 13, B.J.’s son, Bill, began working for the company during his summer breaks. In 1967, Bill graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Masters degree and performed duties from store manager to sales. In 1973, B.J. acquired Rapid Blueprint in Houston. At that time, Bill moved to Houston to take over as District Manager. He remained there for one year until B.J. decided to retire in 1974 and Bill moved back to Dallas to take over as President.

In 1974, the company name was changed to Thomas Reprographics to better represent the changing industry. Throughout the next decade, Thomas Reprographics strived to advance with technology. We focused on large document copying, color copying, as well as traditional blueprinting as a means to expand business. Bill Thomas continued to expand the company through more acquisitions in Dallas, Phoenix, and a color lab in San Francisco.

In 1994, Bill’s son, Bryan, who had been working various jobs within the company during summers since he was 13 years old, joined the management team. He was also a graduate of SMU with a Masters degree. He spent two years running the color lab in San Francisco and two years as Vice President in Dallas. In 1998, he was named President and Bill became Chief Executive Officer of the company. Today, Bryan is the President and Chief Executive Officer, while Bill remains Chairman of the Board. Bryan focuses on continued expansion into new markets through acquisitions and organic growth. The Thomas family is very proud to be one of the few companies that has been successfully managed by three generations.

In 1997, Bill’s daughter, Brianna, joined the staff as Marketing Director. She had recently graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Marketing. She spends her time with the company coordinating advertising campaigns, customer promotions, and store remodels. The company has updated its logo to maintain a technologically advanced image and a new image for their delivery fleet. The company began with trucks and bicycle deliveries in the ‘60s then changed to Volkswagen Beetles in the ‘70s. Today, our fleet consists of Ford Escape Hybrids and other energy efficient vehicles that are brightly wrapped with graphics printed and installed by the company itself. Brianna also oversaw the implementation of our “Green Initiative”. We have committed to support our community and environment by establishing sustainable practices within our business. In addition, we strive to offer our customers new ways to manage and distribute their information without the use of paper.

When Bryan left the color lab in San Francisco, Kent Long, an Assistant Manager in Dallas was sent to run the lab. Kent remained in San Francisco until 1998 when he moved back to Dallas to take the position of District Manager. He now oversees all the Dallas operations and sales staff. In October of 1999 Kent and Brianna were married. The Thomas family is very proud to have Kent as a part of the family business.

Thomas Reprographics was one of the first to revamp the image of the traditional blueprint shop. Starting in the ‘70s, they began upgrading all their locations through remodeling and new equipment. In 1996, Thomas Reprographics opened their first Superstore in Phoenix and in 1998, the Dallas Uptown store was completed. The Superstore concept pools all the digital and technical knowledge into one place. The smaller locations handle digital bond printing, plain paper copying and small-format color, but special jobs are funneled to the Superstores where work on larger, more expensive equipment is performed by trained technicians. The Superstores run multiple shifts in the specialized departments to meet the demands of our customers and their deadlines.

By emphasizing customer service, Thomas Reprographics has been successful in catering to the digital customer as well as the traditional reprographics client. Thomas Reprographics was one of the first to isolate Diazo equipment from the main area of their shops so the customer was not burdened with the smell of ammonia. On the graphics side, Thomas Reprographics has strived to become a one-stop shop. It doesn’t matter if a customer wants large or small graphics, in color or in black and white; we can output it for the customer and usually offer several options in terms of price, quality and speed.

In the mid ‘90s, Thomas Reprographics began heavily investing in facility management services as another means to expand its business. Facilities management can range from a single piece of equipment in a client’s office to a full service in-house shop run by Thomas Reprographics employees. By using project tracking software, the client even has an opportunity to turn their costs into a profit center. Over the past ten years, we have been part of a central force behind the development of a complete project management solution for the construction industry. It’s now the most sophisticated and easy to use product of its kind. Our latest offering is known as The Blue Ocean, which is a web communication system that intertwines multimedia, learning management, and social networking to connect employees, customers, and community.

Since 1956, Thomas Reprographics has expanded to include locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, Tucson, Minneapolis, South and Central Florida. The Thomas family takes pride in being the largest family owned reprographics business during times of consolidation and rapid change in our industry.

Our company has changed significantly since BJ opened the first location in Dallas over fifty years ago. We hope to maintain the level of service we have offered over the past 50 years by keeping abreast of the growing and multi-faceted graphic industry while continuing to grow and expand in decades to come. Our current vision and values keep us focused on doing just that.

Vision: To be the world leader of digital-print solutions and information management through our commitment to world-class customer service and innovation.

Value Statement: We want to be an organization that our customers request, future employees seek, current employees treasure and our peers admire.

Core Values:

• Act with uncompromising honesty, integrity and respect
• Create smiles, internally and externally, by enthusiastically providing world-class customer service and solutions
• Be a company with whom it is easy to do business
• Encourage innovation and entrepreneurial leadership in a work environment where all are trained and empowered to make a difference
• Maintain a safe, clean and professional workplace
• Recognize that growth and profitability are essential to our future success