Wizardz Tyger Valley, the independently-owned print and design store located at the heart of Cape Town’s northern suburbs, has recorded its highest ever monthly turnover since the introduction of a new Xerox Colour C70 printer supplied by Cape Office Machines and Bytes Document Systems.
Under the stewardship of owner Leon Slutzkin, the vibrant store at the entrance to Durbanville’s Tyger Valley shopping centre recently expanded its product range to include vinyl and PVC print and cut media and novelty gifts such a mugs and T-shirts, and has taken on larger corporate accounts to complement the traditional walk-in traffic.
“I’ve always had an eye for innovation, and have made it my business to keep the store ahead of the curve in terms of technology and services with the view of growing the business and importantly, exceeding the customers’ expectations, ” says Slutzkin.
“That’s why the shop has always been – and will continue to be – built around a core of Xerox printers because they’re so far ahead of anything else available on the market,” he says.
“In terms of features, the new Colour C70 is a significant upgrade over the older Xerox DC252 printer it replaced, and both an upgrade and complement to our existing Xerox 550 printer. I’ve insisted on running two frontline colour printers ever since we added the 550 to help speed up the service for colour prints. The speed, quality and economy advances of the C70 will certainly help in this regard, but it also opens the door to a variety of new product options.”
The Xerox Colour C70 sports a high-speed (70 ppm) high-resolution (2400×2400 dpi) print engine capable of handling multiple media types up to 300 gsm. This makes the printer incredibly versatile when it comes to printing and copying, combined with built-in scanning features that offer all-in-one workstation simplicity with minimal staff retraining requirements.
“Keeping current and competitive is paramount for a walk-in, pay-to-print retail shop,” says Cape Office Machines sales consultant Bryn Whithair.
“The standard of digital colour printing has increased significantly in recent years, especially in the creative hub of Cape Town’s design and advertising market, so customers are far more discerning about the quality and consistency of their colour prints,” says Whithair.
“While other brands are still embroiled in a price war, none can match the efficiency, consistency and quality of a Xerox digital printer. For every 15-step colour registration on a competitive machine, the Xerox C70 offers a tool called SIQA (Simple Image Quality Adjustment) which provides for quick adjustment of registration, automating the process and reducing the number of steps quite significantly. It also has a far greater number of user-replaceable parts, making it easier for shop owners to maintain by themselves, which keeps production moving in a business where downtime is money lost.”
Slutzkin, a 33-year veteran at one of South Africa’s largest high-end retail chains, says the immediate impact of the new printer has been welcome but hardly surprising.
“I’ve been in business long enough to know that overnight success is a thing of myth, but that careful planning, making good decisions, and investing in the best technology for the job more often than not earns just rewards,” he says.
“With great advice from Cape Office Machines, who took the time to understand my business and explain my options based on their experience of the market, we mitigated almost all of the risk of investing in the C70, and results speak for themselves,” concludes Slutzkin.