Saturday, January 24, 2009

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

300 5th Ave South

Good News - Allegra has purchased a new building - 300 5th Avenue South is the address and for the curious among you its kiddy corner from the Tool Box and is the old 6 Robles/Northwest Wheel building. Ten thousand square feet of unadulterated warehouse to set up shop in.













Bad News - Contractors, construction, plumbers, electricians - I know, I know - some of you in these professions are reading this blog but I gotta be honest - I don't exactly know where I want that track lighting until you build the damn wall, I don't care what thickness of sheet rock you use and mostly, I can't believe a metal railing can be $10,000 - are you kiddin' me?













The Truth - We decided, due to budget constraints, that Eric and I would be our own generals. We told our dad that we'd never make it in the military and this is the proof! To be honest the electrician has been great to work with, the plumber ran that jack hammer so we didn't have to, the carpenter kept yelling fire in the hole to avoid deafness etc. etc. etc. - its just that sometimes we might regret that decision we just made and now we have no one to blame - never mind, its Skovy's fault!













Looking Forward - Can't wait for the move, well not exactly the move but you know, can't wait to be in the new space. A cool 21st Century conference room - a collaborative area for our plethora of graphic artists, a new sign division with room enough to pull a van in for a full wrap - new cutters and folders and digital printers ... phewwww, oh yeah and an office for Eric and I - a Cohiba in his (Dominican of course, we try to stay within the law) and a nice Burgundian wine in mine, and we might even do some business in those offices as well

so . . .

this is a blog you know, and we get to write what we'd like, therefore - a poem - here goes:

there once was a print shop named Allegra
it moved and immediately improveda*
they had more space, more coolness, more hipness
the results were inevitable like a hypnist**

the Allegra team became less congested
the owners became much more invested
but the result in the end we relay
was the clients had more time for play***

we think we'll be moving in March or in May
to that the contractor has the last say
but whatever the time, be it April or June****
we promise we'll be humming a new tune

mt

* before casting stones, please try to rhyme something with Allegra and send it to mtronson@allegragf.com
** I know there is no such word as hypnist, but artistic license has got to mean something
*** see 'cause we'll be able to do that tedious work for you that you hate so you can go skiing or shopping or surfing or whatever other "s" word you so enjoy doing!
**** if it's June Eric will be in a straight jacket, the bank will have foreclosed and most likely this blog will be gone - so please pray for March!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Gorilla Al

Yep, that's a gorilla you saw today on the streets of Great Falls. His name is Al, he's wearing a sports coat and he's delivering homemade beer and root beer to Allegra's busiest customers. In case you missed it - here's a picture.















Why a gorilla you might ask? Well we really wanted a guerilla marketing campaign started for the new year but we thought - the world has enough violence already! So we went with a gorilla marketing campaign instead - smart ay? Unless he gets arrested first you'll see him popping up around Great Falls for the next few months - and everytime you see him you've got a chance at winning a buck - just answer his flashcard questions correctly and voila - you've won the dollar lottery!

and as if that's not enough for the new year (and by gosh it sure should be) we've also provided to our customers, free of charge the top 9 New Year's Resolutions for Allegra Customers in '09

9. Find out what the acromym VDP stands for

8. Participate in the "who can be Allegra's #1 customer" upcoming contest

7. Frequently visit this blog

6. Try to get my Allegra marketing person to quit using so many acronym's

5. Visit the new Allegra office (Feb. '09 - if the contractor's on time)

4. Get them to deliver beer (or the root version) more than just once a year

3. Find out if one of the Tronson bros. really has an Allegra tattoo

2. Inquire as to who was wearing that damn gorilla outfit

and the #1 resolution for Allegra Customers in '09

1. WIN THAT "I'm the #1 Allegra Customer" CONTEST!!!

mt