Northwest Graphic Supply

What Northwest Graphic Supply does

Northwest Graphic Supply Co. is a privately held, single-location B2B distributor founded in 1961 and headquartered at 4200 East Lake Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company supplies screen printing inks, consumables, equipment, and artist materials to professional screen printing shops, garment decorators, and individual artists and hobbyists. It operates a full-service screen making facility on site that provides screen remeshing, film positive output, and digital art services — a hands-on capability that distinguishes it from pure-play e-commerce resellers.

The product portfolio spans 21 categories covering the full screen printing value chain: plastisol, silicone, water-based, discharge, solvent, and UV-curable inks; screen making supplies including mesh, emulsions, films, blockout, tape, and chemicals; screen printing equipment ranging from manual presses to fully automatic machines such as the ROQprint E; heat transfer vinyl; and direct-to-film (DTF) and direct-to-garment (DTG) consumables. Artist materials (paper, canvas, paint, brushes) form a secondary line. Major supplier brands include Union Ink, Excalibur (Lancer Group), Kolorcure, Sefar, Anatol, Hotronix, Fimor, and ROQ.

The business model is one-time product sales through an owned e-commerce storefront at nwgraphic.com, supplemented by toll-free phone ordering (1-800-221-4079) and local will-call pickup at the Minneapolis facility. Pricing is unit-based with tiered volume discounts on selected items — for example, Union Low Cure Polar White at $123/gallon stepping down to $98.40 at 20+ units. Customer financing for equipment purchases is facilitated through a partnership with CIT Financial. The company ships nationally via UPS, FedEx, Spee-Dee, and common carriers. Revenue, headcount, and ownership details are not publicly disclosed; the company is independently held with no documented external investment rounds or ownership changes since founding.

Name

Northwest Graphic Supply

Legal name

Northwest Graphic Supply Co.

Website

https://nwgraphic.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Northwest Graphic Supply Co. is a privately held, single-location distributor founded in 1961 in Minneapolis, supplying screen printing inks, equipment, consumables, and artist materials to professional screen printing shops, garment decorators, and hobbyist artists via e-commerce and phone sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Screen Printing Supplies Distribution

NAICS

Commercial Screen Printing (323113), Printing and Related Support Activities (3231), Printing and Related Support Activities (323)

SIC

Service Industries For The Printing Trade (2790), Printing Trades Machinery & Equipment (3555), Pens, Pencils & Other Artists' Materials (3950)

akta.pro primary industry

Prepress, Plate-Making & Artwork Services (IMALAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Finishing & Post-Press Services (Cutting, Folding, Collating, Laminating, Foil, Emboss) (MPAJALAF)

Keywords

• Screen printing supplies
• Plastisol screen inks
• Screen making materials
• Heat transfer equipment
• Garment decoration supplies

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: One-time product sales of screen printing inks, supplies, and equipment through e-commerce and phone orders. Volume discounts available on select products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Northwest Graphic Supply distributes screen printing inks, supplies, and equipment under major brands such as Union Ink, Excalibur, Kolorcure, Sefar mesh, Anatol, Hotronix, Fimor, and ROQ, organized across categories including plastisol, silicone, water-based, discharge, solvent, and UV-curable inks, screen making consumables, printing equipment, heat transfer vinyl, and artist materials. In addition to product distribution, the company operates an in-house screen making service that performs coating, exposing, washing, blocking, and taping, along with screen remeshing and squeegee sharpening, serving professional screen printing shops and individual artists.

Product overview

Northwest Graphic Supply is a screen printing and artist material supplier founded in 1961, operating as a single-location distributor in Minneapolis, MN. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of screen printing products organized into 21 major product categories spanning inks (plastisol, silicone, water-based, discharge, solvent, UV), screen making supplies, equipment, accessories, and specialty materials. Key brands include Union Ink, Excalibur, Monarch, Kolorcure, Lancer Group International, Hotronix, Fimor, and ROQ. The company also provides screen restretching services and custom screen making. Products are distributed through an e-commerce platform with financing options via Cit.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plastisol Screen Inks PVC-based plastisol screen printing inks including special whites, soft hand plastisols, high opacity inks, low temp curing formulations, athletic blends, match systems, PVC-free alternatives, 4-color process inks, special effects, nylon inks, transfer plastisols, and additives/adhesives. Sold to professional screen printing operations and garment decorators.
• Silicone Textile Inks PVC-free and phthalate-free silicone ink systems for athletic uniforms and performance wear with high stretch, high opacity, soft hand-feel, and bleed resistance. Targets athletic and performance garment decorators.
• Water Based Inks Environmentally-friendly water-based textile inks including Jacquard, Speedball, Lancer, Pavonine (Union), and Matsui brands formulated for various fabric types. Sold to textile printers seeking softer hand-feel and eco-friendly inks.
• Discharge Inks Water-based discharge inks that remove dyes from garments during curing to create bright, soft prints on dark fabrics, including Aquarius, Lancer Excalibur, and Matsui formulations. Sold to garment printers.
• Solvent Based Inks Multi-purpose, vinyl, lacquer, enamel, epoxy, corrugated plastic, and specialty solvent-based inks formulated for various substrates. Sold to industrial and graphics screen printers.
• Ultra Violet Curing Inks UV curable screen printing inks for container decorating, multi-purpose printing, ultra print, fluted poly, decal/label, high hold out, and specialty formulations from Kolorcure. Sold to industrial screen printers and graphics decorators.
• Metallic Powders, Glitter, and Specialty Pigments Specialty additives including glitter flakes, fluorescent pigments, metallic powders, and phosphorescent (glow-in-dark) pigments for creating special effects on prints. Sold to screen printers and graphic artists seeking specialty finishes.
• Screen Making Supplies Frames, screen mesh (including Sefar/Tetko), screen adhesives, and screen making tools for creating custom screens. Sold to screen printing shops building and maintaining their own screens.
• Emulsion, Screen Films, and Imaging Tools Liquid emulsions, capillary (cap) films, hand (knife) cut films, and tools for imaging and screen reclaiming. Sold to screen printers producing their own stencils.
• Blockout and Tape Screen blocking materials and tape products including PMI Split Zone hand tearable tape for masking screen frames. Sold to screen printers for screen preparation and masking.
• Screen Chemicals Mesh prep, hardeners, emulsion removers, haze removers, biodegradable screen and press washes, conventional solvents, and aerosols. Sold to screen printers for screen reclaim and maintenance.
• Print Room Supplies Squeegees (including Fimor serilor blades), hinges, clamps, ink containers, mixing tools, safety equipment, substrates, anti-static garlands, and precision weighing scales. Sold to screen printers operating production print rooms.
• Textile Accessories Palette adhesives, temperature measurement tools, transfer papers, proofing materials, spot cleaning guns, number stencils, pallets, adhesive tapes, Teflon heat press sheets, and foils. Sold to textile and garment printers.
• Heat Transfer Vinyl Heat transfer vinyl products including POLI-Flex Pearl Glitter, Turbo, Thermo Flex Glitter Flex Ultra, Thermo Flex Plus, Subliblock, Sport, and Xtra for garment decoration. Sold to garment decorators.
• Ink Jet and Laser Film Ink jet film and laser film/vellum for digital printing applications used in screen and graphics production. Sold to screen printers and graphics producers preparing digital artwork for screen exposure.
• Direct to Film (DTF) Supplies DTF transfer film, DTF ink, and DTF transfer powder for the direct-to-film printing process used in garment decoration. Sold to garment decorators adopting DTF workflows.
• Direct to Garment Inks DTG inks and pretreatments including Direct Ink 330TX and Gamut Plus for direct-to-garment printing on cotton and blended fabrics. Sold to garment printers using DTG technology.
• Reference Books and DVDs Educational materials including Practical Guide to Screen Printing, T-Shirt printing guides, Speedball textbooks, and Pantone Formula Guides. Sold to screen printers and art students.
• Digital Equipment and Supplies Digital substrates, sign vinyl, inkjet ink, equipment, maintenance tanks, and cleaning supplies. Sold to sign makers and digital printing operators.
• Screen Equipment Automatic and manual textile presses (including Anatol and ROQprint E), graphic presses, one-man presses, drying/curing equipment, racks, cleaning/reclaim equipment, computer-to-screen systems, automatic coaters, exposure equipment, heat transfer presses (Hotronix Fusion), squeegee sharpeners, and fabric stretch devices. Sold to screen printing operations and equipment buyers.
• Artist Materials Paper, board, reproduction materials, paint, canvas, artist brushes, painting accessories, dry media, pen and ink, drafting supplies, studio equipment, and cutting tools. Sold to artists, students, and hobbyists.
• Screen Restretching and Custom Screen Making Services Custom screen making services including screen remeshing, film positive output, digital art creation and modification, and squeegee sharpening. Complete screen preparation from coating to tape, performed in-house at the Minneapolis facility. Sold to screen printing shops needing outsourced screen production.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Union InkcoreOthersMajor ink supplier brand carried by Northwest Graphic Supply
• Excalibur Ink (Lancer Group)coreOthersSupplier of athletic and performance wear inks
• Kolorcure InkcoreOthersUV curable ink supplier for screen printing applications
• Sefar (formerly Tetko) MeshcoreTechnology or IntegrationScreen mesh supplier for screen making
• Anatol EquipmentminorOthersScreen printing equipment manufacturer

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ryonet (ScreenPrinting.com): The dominant U.S. screen printing supplies and equipment distributor; sells the same categories of inks, screens, and presses to the same professional and prosumer decorator customer base via e-commerce.
• Atlas Screen Supply: National screen printing supplies distributor offering inks, emulsion, mesh, and equipment — directly competitive with Northwest Graphic's catalog across the same decorator customer segments.
• Equipment Zone: Full-line screen printing and digital decorating equipment and supplies distributor serving garment decorators nationwide; overlapping product range and B2B e-commerce GTM motion.
• Lawson Screen & Digital Products: Manufacturer and distributor of screen printing and digital equipment plus supplies; competes with Northwest Graphic on both equipment sales and consumables to garment decorators.
• FosterLogic: Screen printing supplies specialist selling plastisol inks, emulsion, and equipment online; comparable specialty distribution model targeting the same screen printing shop customers.

Broad incumbents

• Anatol Equipment: One of Northwest Graphic's supplier partners that also sells direct; a larger screen printing equipment manufacturer with broader product lines and global reach competing for the same equipment dollars.
• Stahls' Hotronix: Featured supplier brand for Northwest Graphic that also sells heat presses, vinyl, and decoration supplies direct; broader product portfolio and stronger national brand recognition in garment decoration.

Emerging players

• ColDesi / DTG Digital: DTG and digital printing equipment and supplies specialist representing the digital decoration shift; an emerging competitor whose categories overlap with Northwest Graphic's expanding DTF/DTG offerings.

Regional players

• Impression Solutions: Specialty printer supplies distributor operating in different geographies but with overlapping product mix — useful comparable for assessing regional specialty distribution economics and unit economics.

Others

• Speedball Art Products: Brand partner supplying water-based inks and artist materials sold by Northwest Graphic; comparable on the artist materials side of the business and a supplier-distributor relationship worth benchmarking.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nwgraphic
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Northwest Graphic Supply