Civilian Screen Printing

What Civilian Screen Printing does

Civilian Screen Printing is a privately held, founder-owned custom apparel decoration business founded in 2007 by Curt Crossman in Kitchener, Ontario. Operating from a single facility at 20 Hurst Ave since a 2023 relocation, the company runs an in-house one-stop shop across screen printing, Direct to Film (DTF) transfers, Direct to Garment (DTG) printing, and embroidery, supplemented by finishing services such as screen-printed neck tags, custom woven tags, cut vinyl names/numbers, applique, and cut-and-sew work.

The company's core technology is conventional apparel decoration machinery — including an auto press, DTG printers, embroidery machines, and DTF equipment — combined with specialty ink capabilities (foil, puff, glow-in-the-dark, split fountain, water-based discharge, simulated process) and Pantone color matching. Production is fully in-house, enabling direct quality control across the workflow from artwork separation and design through printing and shipping.

Civilian generates revenue primarily through project-based, per-piece pricing on custom apparel orders (12-piece minimum for screen printing, with 20% small-order and rush fees), embroidered goods billed by stitch count, DTG for sub-12-piece runs, and promotional items. An additional commercial layer is the pre-sale webstore platform, which lets band and brand customers run their own limited-time merch e-commerce campaigns on Civilian's production and fulfillment infrastructure. The go-to-market combines a sales-led website quote-request funnel with a community-led motion anchored in the Kitchener-Waterloo and broader Canadian music scene, serving bands and musicians as the primary segment, alongside corporate clients, sports teams, and not-for-profit organizations. Shipping is domestic via Canada Post and UPS, with no disclosed international footprint beyond working with international music artists on tour-merch production.

Name

Civilian Screen Printing

Legal name

Civilian Screen Printing

Website

https://civilianprinting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Civilian Screen Printing is a Kitchener, Ontario-based custom apparel decorator offering in-house screen printing, DTF, DTG, and embroidery services, primarily serving bands and musicians, alongside corporate, sports, and non-profit clients across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Apparel Decoration & Printing Services

NAICS

Commercial Screen Printing (323113), Printing (32311)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Coating, Engraving & Allied Services (3470)

akta.pro primary industry

Custom Printing & Decoration Services (Screen Print, Embroidery, Laser) (BPAFAMAL)

Keywords

• Screen printing services
• Apparel decoration
• Direct to film transfers
• Custom embroidery services
• Promotional merchandise

Headquarters

HQ city

Kitchener

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Screen Printing Services: Primary revenue stream. Custom screen printing on apparel with per-piece pricing. Minimum order of 12 pieces for screen printing. 20% small order fee for orders of 24 or less. Price per unit decreases with higher quantities.
2. Direct to Film (DTF) Services: Full-color transfer printing with no order minimums and no set-up fees. Suitable for smaller orders and detailed designs on any fabric or color.
3. Direct to Garment (DTG) Printing: Digital printing for orders under 12 pieces (below screen printing minimum). Higher per-unit cost but no minimum order requirement.
4. Embroidery Services: Charged based on stitch count with a digitizing setup charge. Used for names, numbers, and full design embroidery.
5. Promotional Items: Pad printing on hard-to-print items like sunglasses and water bottles. Revenue from promotional product catalog.
6. Pre-sale Webstore Platform: Builds custom online stores for customers to sell merchandise during pre-sale campaigns. Set duration selling periods with e-commerce infrastructure provided.
7. Rush Order Fees: 20% rush fee for expedited turnaround orders. Additional revenue from overnight/next-day shipping arrangements.
8. Custom Design Services: In-house art and design team assists with artwork separation, file preparation, and original design creation. Many cases handled at no charge.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Civilian Screen Printing provides custom apparel decoration services for the Kitchener-Waterloo area and ships Canada-wide. Core offerings include screen printing, direct to film (DTF) transfers, direct to garment (DTG) printing, and embroidery, supported by in-house art and design, specialty ink techniques, finishing services, custom promotional items, and pre-sale webstore hosting for clients. The company serves bands/musicians, corporate clients, sports teams, and small businesses with orders ranging from small DTF runs to larger screen-printed bulk orders.

Product overview

Civilian Screen Printing is a garment decoration and promotional products company offering a one-stop-shop of in-house production services. The core offerings include screen printing, direct to film (DTF) transfers, and embroidery, complemented by additional services such as promotional items, in-house art and design, pre-sale webstores, and finishing services (custom tags, vinyl names/numbers, cut and sew). All production is handled in-house enabling quicker turnaround and quality control from start to finish.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Screen Printing Traditional screen printing service using mesh and stencil technique, where ink is pushed through screens onto garments using a squeegee. Supports multiple colors using separate screens, with exact PMS/Pantone color matching. Standard turnaround 7-10 business days, with rush options available.
• Direct to Film (DTF) Transfers Full-color DTF transfer printing delivering vibrant designs with high detail and durability. Works on almost any fabric or color with no order minimums, unlimited colors, and no setup fees. Suitable for small orders and detailed designs.
• Direct to Garment (DTG) Printing Digital DTG printing for orders under 12 pieces (below the screen printing minimum). Higher per-unit cost but no minimum order requirement, suited to short runs and detailed full-color artwork.
• Embroidery Professional embroidery service providing durable, fade-resistant stitched decoration. Includes design digitization, hooping, multi-color stitching, applique, and patches, with pricing based on stitch count and a digitizing setup charge.
• Additional Services (Promotional Items, Finishing & In-House Design)

Quantifiable outcome

• Standard turnaround: 7-10 business days + up to 7 business days for shipping
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Rush Order Tees: Custom apparel screen printing and embroidery shop competing on speed and flexibility, including small-batch and rush orders. Directly comparable in service mix (screen print, embroidery, DTG) and small-order-friendly positioning relative to Civilian.
• Real Thread: Custom apparel decoration company focused on high-quality screen printing, embroidery, and retail-ready merch services for brands and bands. Comparable premium-quality positioning and band-merch vertical orientation to Civilian.
• Broken Arrow Wear: Independent custom apparel screen printer serving bands, brands, and small businesses with screen printing, embroidery, and finishing services. Similar mid-market custom apparel decoration business model and customer mix as Civilian.
• Underground Printing: Mid-sized U.S. custom apparel printer specializing in screen printing and embroidery for bands, fraternities/sororities, businesses, and organizations. Operates the same custom-decoration business model as Civilian with a similar multi-vertical customer base including a strong music-merch focus.

Broad incumbents

• CustomInk: One of the largest online custom apparel platforms in North America, offering screen printing, embroidery, and digital decoration for groups, businesses, and events. A much larger incumbent operating across the same core custom apparel decoration categories as Civilian, but with national scale, self-serve e-commerce, and broader customer reach.
• Vistaprint: Mass-market online printing services company offering a broad range of custom printed products including apparel and promotional items. A large incumbent in adjacent print categories with overlapping SMB and small-business customers.
• Spreadshirt: Global print-on-demand and custom apparel platform enabling creators and brands to sell decorated merchandise. Operates a different platform-based business model but competes for the same creator, band, and small-brand merchandise customer base.
• Sticker Mule: Large online custom print company known primarily for stickers and labels but expanded into apparel printing and embroidery. A scaled, digitally-native incumbent operating in adjacent custom-print categories with the same SMB and brand customer base.

Emerging players

• Printful: Print-on-demand and fulfillment platform offering DTG, embroidery, and screen printing integrated with e-commerce storefronts. Operates a different model (on-demand vs. batch production) but competes for the same end customers — small brands, creators, and bands — that Civilian serves.
• Apliiq: Custom apparel platform offering private-label manufacturing, screen printing, embroidery, and drop-shipping for brands. Targets the same small-brand and band-merch customer segment with a more digitally-integrated, on-demand service model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/131443390261988
• Instagraminstagram.com/civilianscreenprinting
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/civilian-screen-printing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

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 Civilian Screen Printing