THOMASVILLE, N.C. -- Take a walk down any grocery store wine or beer aisle, and chances are you’ve seen the work of a Thomasville company, and didn’t even know it.
Inside Wright Global Graphics of Thomasville, there’s a smell of ink, and machines hard at work cranking out label after label.
The Triad company, started by two men 55 years ago in 1961, is a staple in the downtown area.
There’s just something about small town charm as Greg Wright, President, said “There are many families that have been a part of this company, you can walk around town, and a lot of people know about it. We love being a part of the community.”
The company has more than 200 employees and three plants in North Carolina.
The Tar Heel state is a perfect match for their business when it comes to North Carolina's wine and craft brewery industries.
We took a tour inside their Wine, Spirits, and Labeling division.
The company produces labels for Richard Childress Vineyards, Duplin Winery, Shelton Vineyards, Jolo, Shadow Springs, Raffaldini Vineyards, Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon products, and that’s just really -- scratching the surface.
Wright said, “We also produce labels for Foothills Brewing and several other breweries in Charlotte. So, a lot of the local area distillers, brewers and wine makers. It’s a real fun business to be in.”
When you see a cool label on a bottle, let’s just say it kind of spreads like, fine wine!
“We get our customers through word of mouth mostly, and just being out in the market. Being a part of the industry in North Carolina. Being a part of the North Carolina Wine Growers Association, the North Carolina Distillers Association.”
The company has 12 designers who help create the look of the labels. Wright enjoys visiting their customers, and helping to create a work of art for them to show to the world.
“What’s exciting about it is we get to make the package. So we get to be a part of this creative process and this effort to make a design and make everything creative. So we enjoy that a lot,” said Wright.
However, much of the special part comes after the labels are placed on the products.
“I can’t tell you how exciting it is to walk through a grocery store or walk through Home Depot, and you look, and there’s something that you were part of. And it is not your product, it’s just something you helped do, but you can look at it. I know a lot of our employees that look at it, and have a sense of pride. That’s us, that’s what we do,” said Wright.
So the next time you take a trip to look at the Big Chair in Thomasville, remember a company around the corner that’s creating, designing, employing and is a fixture right here in the Triad.