Impressions - September 2016 - 37

B-UNLIMITED AT A GLANcE
C ompan y name: B-Unlimited
address: 612 W Center St., Fayetteville, AR 72701
Foun ded: 1994
n o. oF employees: 50
deC oratin g m ethods oFFered: Water-based screen printing,
embroidery, promotional products
C ompan y Website: b-unlimited.com

"It's a pretty fashion-forward crowd,"
Foster says."Our artists are incredible and
what they're able to do with water-based
[prints] is great.We knew [mastering the
water-based printing process] would be
difficult at first. But we can offer something [our customers] are not used to. It's
the fashion prints that are getting much
more popular."
With a handful of other decorated apparel shops located in the Fayetteville area
also catering to a younger niche, much
of B-Unlimited's marketing efforts are
focused on social media - notably Pinterest - or word-of-mouth referrals.While
Holder says positive online customer reviews help, the uniqueness of the apparel
could, ironically, end up preventing it from
further exposure.
"People love starting up conversations
about the sweet T-shirts on campus, but
some of the organizations like to keep it
a secret so that they have the best shirts
on campus," he says.
close together and learn,constantly focusing
and trying new brands and techniques,
getting to where we're pretty good with it."
One of the most significant early challenges was the amount of shirts and jobs
that could get done in a single day.
"Not many shops I know of that are
doing custom jobs use water-based [ink]
because it is a hurdle," he said. "It takes a
lot of time and you have to be set up for
that.When we first started, we were getting
two to three jobs done per day and had to
figure out our quality of prints and how to
make production [increase].We've gone
from two to three jobs per day to 20-25
per day in house."
To help customers understand the difference between water-based and plastisol inks,
B-Unlimited has a page comparing them
on its website. It touts water-based printing
as being soft, long-lasting and breathable,

and also more ideal for fashionable, ribbed
or bamboo garments. Plastisol, it says, results
in heavy, sticky prints that are susceptible
to cracking after multiple washes.
Inspired Artwork
One of B-Unlimited's staples is custom
artwork. Customers can choose from a
gallery, but Holder says it's meant to inspire customers to conceive their own
ideas. As most of the shop's jobs center on colleges, Greek organizations or
regional music festivals, the customer
base is relatively young and aided by the
social-media boom.
Holder also says much of the business hinges on the talent of the artists, a
sentiment echoed by Foster, who touts
water-based ink as a complement to
their skills.

Future Plans
Holder says the company, with its "fun"
atmosphere and culture, is growing at a
30%-40% rate annually.As such, future plans
include moving into a 23,000-square-foot
facility in December.The new building not
only will include space for more equipment,
but also will allow the shop to eschew discharge printing in favor of specialty printing.
Holder also says the company plans to
add embroidery - albeit slowly - as well
as at least one more decorating process.
"There's a lot of opportunity coming
in; our clients help drive what we purchase next so we're buying some more
embroidery equipment and heat presses,"
he says."We want to have the best prints
that we can. If a client comes in and asks
for something, we find a way to make
it work." 
SEPTEMBER 2016

P.37
http://www.b-unlimited.com http://www.b-unlimited.com
Impressions - September 2016

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