Kim Plese, the owner of Plese Printing & Marketing, of Spokane, has purchased an acre of vacant land next to the commercial printing company’s current location and plans to construct a building there for a new vehicle wrap business, called Plese Wrap It.

Plese in April purchased the lot, which is located immediately north of the printing company’s building at 4201 E. Trent. She declines to disclose the purchase price.

“I’ve been trying to buy this lot forever,” Plese says.

Plese says her graphics team will design the new building. 

“I just got the plans for it, and my graphics people here are going to design what it’s going to look like,” she says.

The building will be 2,400 square feet and feature two large garage doors where Plese says the business will be able to put big trucks and boats.

“I’m probably going to break ground in the spring,” says Plese.

With the new space, she says, “I could do a big RV or a boat, so we can have one or two vehicles at a time to wrap.”

The wrap business has already completed two boat wraps, Plese says.

The new business will, “make your vehicle look like a billboard with logos,” she claims. “You can take vinyl adhesive and wrap the top, bottom, the windows, and everything to make your vehicle look like a company vehicle.”

Plese says she had planned for her production manager of the past 12 years to run the wrap business, but he passed away suddenly in August.

Moving forward with plans to expand and grow was the only option, she contends.

She sent an employee to 3M Learning Marketplace, in Thousand Oaks, California, to learn how to use the graphics materials and tools for vehicle wrapping.

“3M has the best type of material to use for this type of business,” she contends.

The new business will have 24-hour security to protect the premises, including cameras that Plese says will enable her clients to check progress of vehicle wraps online.

Plese says she plans to hire three or four people to work at the wrap business.

At the onset of the pandemic, Plese says she lost about 85% of her business overnight. “I probably fielded 50 phone calls of people cancelling jobs. It was absolutely devastating to me. Overnight, everything was gone.”

Plese says her company survived the pandemic-related shutdowns through the support of local clients and a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

The commercial printer was deemed an essential business because of its work printing prescription pads for the medical industry, she says. Disposable to-go menus from a few clients in the restaurant industry kept business going as well.

Plese Printing & Marketing was established in 1989. The printing business has nine full-time employees and offers full-color digital printing, direct mail marketing, wall graphics, design services, and houses a full press room capable of foiling and embossing.

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