Nearly 50 years of doing business from Leiden, The Netherlands in the international graphic market!
André America began his journey with a brush, painting letters and logos on cars and shop windows. Nearly 20 years old, he was thinking that all bosses were stupid, and he would do a much better job. With the financial support of Rob Mantel, Anita’s brother, he founded Studio America, at the Nieuwstraat 19 in Leiden, in a 24 m2 garage. The first customer was Rob his company LUBA Uitzendburo, a temporary agency, with branches throughout the west of The Netherlands.
The company was in the heart of Leiden, a university town in the Netherlands. André taught himself the trade of screen-printing. On self-made wooden frames he attached nylon with a tacker. In the first years it was a struggle to make money, but with the help of Rob we survived. Anita joined the company, taking over the financial and administrative hassle. Around that time, clients began requesting more than one-off pieces, so he taught himself screen printing. It was easier said than done, but after a year of trial and error, the business grew into a mid-sized screen-printing company employing 19 people.
We moved to Nieuwstraat 53A a 220 m2 space, still in the same street. As a screen print company, we did not have money or space for drying tunnels, so we worked with drying racks. This had also its advantage since our favourite pub ‘De Bonte Koe’ was around the corner. In those days screen print ink was slow drying, therefore we were forced to go to the pub after the 220 racks were full of prints. After a few beers we looked at each other and wondered if the ink would be dry…… we decided to have another beer, just to make sure.
Our daughter Yentl was born. We build a bed from dibond and she joined us every day at the company.
The Nieuwstraat location was too small for our growing company, the big trucks had a hard time getting to us, so we started to build a new factory at the Flevoweg industrial area. At this new 500 m2 factory we had the space to install 2 drying tunnels at the 3/4 and automatic screen-printing machines, and two hand tables. With this equipment we produced all kind of products from self-adhesive to cardboard displays, for advertising agencies, bus companies, department stores and big retailers like O’Neil and Nike. Our long-standing relationships with major companies are built on our commitment to understanding their needs and our readiness to work nights and weekends whenever required.
We moved to our building of 500m2 with approximately 15 staff-members and 4 salespeople covering the four corners of The Netherlands. Evolution started: printing on hard materials, textile and working for established names, musea, architects and many more companies. Anita and André founded the ZIK (Zeefdruk Inkoop Kombinatie) with 8 other screen-print companies in the Netherlands to get an advantage buying power.
America Digitaal Druk was established as a pioneer in the Dutch graphic industry. Recognizing the potential of digital printing, we made the bold decision to transition away from screen-printing in Western Europe. Our innovation extended further as we became the inaugural purchasers of a digital large-format printer in Northwestern Europe: the Calcomp 68436 Electrostatic Plotter, boasting a printing width of 36 inches (91.4 cm), capable of printing at a rate of 6 meters per hour!
We now had 4 Rastergraphic electrostatic printers working 24/7. We decided to sell all screen-print equipment. We made history by becoming the first company in the Netherlands to fully embrace digital large-format printing. André’s vision for a digital flatbed printer began to take shape. He started developing the printer in collaboration with Cambridge Consultants in Cambridge, UK.
André invented Digital Flatbed technology with the Inca Eagle. Following this, INCA was founded, and the first prototypes from the Eagle B series were installed in the UK. During school holidays, André and Anita travelled to Cambridge with their daughter Yentl to finalize the project, leveraging André’s expertise of the need in the graphic industry.
André and Anita frequently attended graphic shows and lectures, but soon realized they had outgrown the learning opportunities these events offered. During hallway conversations with colleagues, they decided to organize a meeting with renowned printers from around the world to facilitate mutual learning and exchange of ideas. Anita and André organized the first GIGA meeting in Houston USA. GIGA stands for Global Imaging and Graphic Organization. GIGA members combine research and development resources so that they can continually introduce new and innovative products. They create a forum to debate the processes and techniques that are continually appearing in the market. GIGA has national and international clients around the globe through a network of co-ordinated digital print manufacturers. https://giga.org/
The Flevoweg factory expansion to 1600m² was completed, allowing us to install the world’s first digital flatbed printer, the Eagle 44, along with four Rastergraphic printers. In Leiden, the historic textile city, we pioneered the first textile printing.
We introduced Matrix Frame, the world’s first SEG (Silicone Edge Graphic) system, revolutionizing the industry. Matrix Frame offers a comprehensive range of products and services for major retail brands worldwide, including custom frame and light box development, large-format SEG printing, and logistics management. As pioneers in the SEG fabric frame industry, we have driven most of the innovations since securing our first Dutch patent in 2004. Our solutions enable retailers to manage their in-store visual communications effortlessly, efficiently, and profitably. Matrix Frame – Retail Reinvented.
We sold America Digitaal Druk BV to Marcel Nieuwenhuis, who was the company manager at the time. Following the sale of the printing company, we shifted our focus to research and development of Matrix Frame. We established a dealer network spanning 33 countries, with approximately 90 dealers selling and customizing our Matrix Frame profiles to frames for end-users.
The founding of Matrix Frame USA: Our headquarter is based in Leiden, the Netherlands, where R&D and production takes place. We opened our 5.000 m2 production plant in Charlotte NC, United States of America. Based out of our Dutch plant in Leiden, The Netherlands and Charlotte, NC USA, we are the exclusive manufacturer of the original Matrix Frame SEG frames and light boxes. We create a variety of customized retail solutions for your specific needs. We are experts in large-format dye-sublimation printing and can provide beautiful, vivid, attentiongetting fabric graphics. Also, we handle campaign management and fulfilment services to all the individual stores for many of our large retail accounts.
Matrix Frame EU moved the production to Flevodwarsweg 13 around the corner of our office at Flevoweg 27 in Leiden. There we installed our Blitz saw to cut the profiles into Matrix Frames. Here we stocked all our different profiles and accessories. As demand grew, clients began requesting banners. Instead of investing in a large format printing machine we decided to cooperate.
The COLORFUL “idea” was born during a GIGA meeting in Porto, Portugal in spring of this year. From single orders to large-scale productions, specializing exclusively in SEG banners, we cater to our US clients, fulfilling orders ranging from one to 20,000 banners. Four of the already significant textile printing members from Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands and Portugal wanted to make an increased investment in faster printers. They saw a rapidly growing European demand for printed fabric graphics. We combined investment capital and founded a new company, Colorful SA Porto. Today, Colorful stands as one of Europe’s biggest digital fabric printing companies, specializing in industrial fabric printing.
We founded Colorful UK, as a Sales Office for Colorful Porto. We needed a dedicated sales and production team in the UK. Our dedicated printing facility in Porto offers an overnight/next morning delivery service to ensure we have the fastest turnaround times on the market. We closed Colorful UK in 2024, but we still serve the UK market from our office in The Netherlands.
Matrix Frame China was established to serve the markets in China and Hong Kong. We found our local partner and participated in C-star in Shanghai, the Chinese equivalent of EuroShop. Our efforts were recognized in 2017 when we won the award for Best Stand Design. We closed Matrix Frame China in 2022.
The founding of Matrix Frame Franchise BV to be able to allow companies to use the Matrix Frame brand or in later years also the Mobile Light Box brand. We also support them in their marketing activities.
Matrix Frame Franchise Australia was established to serve the markets in Australia and New Zealand. We closed Matrix Frame Australia in 2021.
Mobile Light Box EU, Worlds best Mobile Light Box for the exhibit and event marked. All essentials for promoting anything on the spot in one bag, easy setup with no tools required. Developed for mobility and durability when doing high impact presentations in various locations. Ideal for trade shows, sales presentations, training sessions and pop-up promotions. It is sleekly portable in a heavy-duty, double-wheeled canvas bag that rolls easily over every surface. With the click and slide system the set-up is a breeze, with no tools required, which means less stress for you and your team. When you need to make an even bolder statement, you can connect several Mobile Light Boxes together to create bigger stands or structures. We have 24 standard sizes on stock!
Mobile Light Box Franchise Japan was established to serve the market in Japan. We are thoroughly impressed by the graciousness of our Japanese partner Ridea Works, Fumito Kobayashi and his colleagues.
Mobile Light Box Franchise India was established to serve the market in India. We are incredibly pleased with the cooperation with our Indian partner Illuminati, Amit Kanodia and his colleagues.
Mobile Light Box US was established to serve the markets in The United States of America and Canada. We are thrilled with the cooperation with our American partner Borja Kaiser and his colleagues.
We founded Matrix Frame Romania and moved our Matrix Frame stock and saw to Bucharest, Romania. They have a fast production time for delivery with an eye for quality. We are happy to have such a successful partnership with Florin Colceru and his exceptional team from Romania.
We kept the Mobile Light Box stock in Leiden and we continue to grow this part of our business. With around 12 shows a year we are really building a strong brand. We always try to find the best solution for our clients. Mobile Light Box a Matrix Frame brand!
Yentl America and Rick van Ruitenburg became shareholders of Matrix Frame BV. They will keep the family business going strong.
50 years in business!
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