In the 1980s, Lori Rupp and Gary Bendig worked for HSP Inc., a downtown Toledo photo-processing firm. Ms. Rupp had left and was selling magazine advertisements when HSP folded in late 1988.
When the two former associates heard about the closing, they talked on the telephone about the possibility of putting together their own business, but it was far too complicated for a phone conversation.
We met for three days at a [South Toledo] Frisch s, 12 hours a day, and came up with a plan, recalled Ms. Rupp, now president of Polygraphics Inc., which also does business as Kohne Photographic Supply.
They knew it was going to be tough. Several trusted advisers told us we were crazy, said Ms. Rupp.
They said we wouldn t make it a year. And that first year was rough, she added: I literally lived on my credit cards and I ate dinner at mom s a lot. After about a year in business, our first paycheck was $50 apiece, and we were excited. She said the business took in less than $74,000 in its first year.
That work has paid off. She said the business revenue topped $1 million for the first time last year and should do even better in 2004.
Polygraphics acquired some photo-processing equipment from the former HSP, and five years ago it acquired inventory and customer lists from another closed business, Kohne Photographic a firm once known as George L. Kohne Inc., which was a downtown fixture for more than a century.
In recent years, Polygraphics has had to adapt to changing times, especially the trend toward digital cameras. It offers photography classes, photo restoration, and production of large graphics for trade shows and posters, along with traditional services, such as custom color photo printing, black-and-white printing, and slide processing.
It even has an ancient animation camera often used in the past to produce multi-projector slide shows for some local companies.
Ms. Rupp is proud of her firm s photo-restoration work. I have a passion for helping people preserve memories, whether it s weddings, the birth of a baby, or a soccer game, she said.
She advises customers to store their electronic images by making prints and by saving the images on an archival CD, because she believes regular CDs could fade within 3-10 years.
The first week of business for Polygraphics was frantic. The first customer, a doctor at the Medical College of Ohio, needed more than 100 slides on a Friday, and the slide-processor wasn t delivered until that Thursday. We worked all night, said Ms. Rupp, now the owner of the firm.
Mr. Bendig remains a key employee.
A number of business owners have been customers of Polygraphics since its founding, including Sharon Simmons, editor and publisher of the Village Voice of Ottawa Hills, a monthly news magazine.
They served us very well, day or night, said Ms. Simmons. Because of the nature of what we do, we sometimes had to make extraordinary demands on them. They performed very well, and in good spirits, too.
Ms. Rupp s firm has lasted 16 times as long as her original advisers predicted. I would say the secret is bending over backward for the customer, she added.
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First Published November 15, 2004, 1:32 p.m.