Echoes of a bygone era whisper through the buildings and streets of Chicago’s Printer’s Row. And it is there, on those historic streets, where you will find the last printer located there: Palmer Printing, still operating after 81 years in Chicago’s South Loop. The 35-employee commercial printing firm has seen companies come and go since it was founded in 1937, with many of them moving to suburban locations outside of the city.
Palmer Printing has been the last printer on Printer’s Row since 2007, when Rider Dickerson moved to a different location. But it too has recently made the decision to relocate – a move that President Ed Rossini and his father and former owner Ciro Rossini felt was the next logical step for the company.
In December 2017, Ciro Rossini, who owns the building where Palmer Printing is housed, decided to sell it to Chicago residential developer CMK. According to Ed Rossini, the company is in the process of looking for a new location with plans to move this year.
In the past 10 years, Ed Rossini says that the Printer’s Row area has evolved into a vibrant, energetic neighborhood with the addition of universities, restaurants, bars and shops.
While being at the center of a gentrified neighborhood has provided a great base for Palmer’s customers and employees, its location has posed some challenges, especially when trying to run a manufacturing operation on four floors located on a narrow street that has seen an upsurge in traffic due to the revival of the neighborhood.
Rossini notes that his first location of choice would be to stay in the city, but he is also exploring other areas. “I’m looking at locations both inside and outside of the city, and anything in between.”
Having worked on Printer’s Row for his entire life, Rossini says he definitely feels melancholy about the thought of moving. “It’s the only area that I’ve known since getting into the business with my dad,” Rossini says, who started working in the bindery during the summer, cleaning and making plates when he was just 12 years old which, he jokes, was a way to get him out of the house. After completing school, he started working there full-time.
more at: http://www.piworld.com/article/end-of-an-era-for-last-shop-on-printers-row/