Black Dog Printing is proudly a woman-owned business, with Crystal Falls native Becky Blazier and daughters Courtney and Bailey combining their talents.

Becky Blazier had a long history in the printing and sign business, even before starting to work out of her garage and basement making signs and selling T-shirts. Daughter Courtney studied graphic design while Bailey is finishing up high school.

The idea to open a store on Superior Avenue came one night after Becky attended a show at the Crystal Theater and noticed a tax sale sign on a nearby building.

“I could see us working out of there and selling our stuff there,” she said.

BLACK DOG PRINTING is at 325 Superior Ave. in Crystal Falls. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

The Blaziers would end up winning the bid for the building, which they purchased in August 2023 without knowing what was inside.

Becky said the biggest challenge to opening Black Dog Printing was redesigning the building for the business. The storefront had been divided into several small rooms and the future production area in back was an apartment, with no interior way to move between the two areas.

The Blaziers did much of the remodeling work themselves and by August Black Dog Printing was ready to open.

The response so far has been wonderful, they said. Already having local businesses as clients definitely helped — “Without that it would have been much harder,” Courtney said — but with the store individuals have been making their way in as well to check out all that Black Dog Printing has to offer.

“There are a lot of businesses that come to us and put in a big order and then there are people that come in for one shirt,” Becky said.

T-shirts and other apparel make up a large portion of Black Dog Printing’s business. They offer custom-made vinyl transfers, direct to film or silk screened. Just about anything can be made into a transfer, including photographs.

Black Dog Printing considers no order to be too small or too big. All three Blaziers agree it is what sets them apart from many printing companies.

“Being able to order just one or two of something,” Courtney said. “With a restaurant, sometimes they have to get 500 menus and people around here just cannot do that, so here they can get 150 and see how it goes — we are totally OK with that.”

Courtney also said people are often surprised by their reasonable design fees. All three of the Blaziers contribute to the design work, which Courtney said is one of her favorite parts of the business.

Black Dog Printing also offers a wide variety of stationary, greeting cards, postcards, stickers and emblems, embroidered patches and posters. Becky said Black Dog Printing still does signs as well but have some size limits.

With the upcoming hunting season, Black Dog Printing will soon expand its offerings of Crystal Fall and Upper Michigan products. They invite everyone to come check them out.

“We have a cozy little attitude. We are family friendly, dog friendly,” Courtney said. “Nobody is in a bad mood when they are in here.”

Black Dog Printing is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and open until 6 p.m. Wednesdays. For more, go to https://www.blackdogprinting.shop or call 906-874-4141.

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The Daily News plans to highlight some of the new business owners in the region. Know of a business that recently opened or changed hands? Contact Jim Paul at 906-774-2772, ext. 229, or jpaul@ironmountaindailynews.com.