. . . Jimmy Carter was president, the country was in the middle of an energy crisis and Chrysler went to the US government asking for 1 Billion dollars . .
In 1979 my father, Carl Averitt, and I started a business pinstriping cars at auto dealers lots. The original business was called C&M Stripe and Trim, (Carl & Mark). Jimmy Carter was president, the country was in the middle of an energy crisis and Chrysler went to the US government asking for 1 Billion dollars to avoid bankruptcy. Isn’t it funny how, now 30 years later, things are so much the same.
We traveled from dealer to dealer installing pinstripes, custom graphics, luggage carriers and side mouldings on all of the latest cars like the Ford Courier pickup trucks and the Ford Fiesta. Money was tight, paychecks were irregular. There were even times when we slept in the truck at a campground when working out of town. You might think that things were "hard", and in some ways they were, but in the important ways things were and still are fantastic.
Somehow we made it through the energy crisis, we made it through the recession of the late 70’s early 80’s. It was not easy, it was hard work and the pay was not always that great, but we made it together as a family. I am proud of that, and I am glad that I been able to work with my father my entire career.
In 1985 I was fortunate enough to meet my soul mate and the love of my life, my wife Betty Jo. Only 8 months after meeting her, I was able to get her to say “I do”. . .
We have since spent most waking hours together. We worked together running a mobile graphics installation truck for Carolina Car Craft ( we changed the name from C&M Stripe and Trim when we incorporated).
In 1979 my father, Carl Averitt, and I started a business pinstriping cars at auto dealers lots. The original business was called C&M Stripe and Trim, (Carl & Mark). Jimmy Carter was president, the country was in the middle of an energy crisis and Chrysler went to the US government asking for 1 Billion dollars to avoid bankruptcy. Isn’t it funny how, now 30 years later, things are so much the same.
We traveled from dealer to dealer installing pinstripes, custom graphics, luggage carriers and side mouldings on all of the latest cars like the Ford Courier pickup trucks and the Ford Fiesta. Money was tight, paychecks were irregular. There were even times when we slept in the truck at a campground when working out of town. You might think that things were "hard", and in some ways they were, but in the important ways things were and still are fantastic.
Somehow we made it through the energy crisis, we made it through the recession of the late 70’s early 80’s. It was not easy, it was hard work and the pay was not always that great, but we made it together as a family. I am proud of that, and I am glad that I been able to work with my father my entire career.
In 1985 I was fortunate enough to meet my soul mate and the love of my life, my wife Betty Jo. Only 8 months after meeting her, I was able to get her to say “I do”. . .
We have since spent most waking hours together. We worked together running a mobile graphics installation truck for Carolina Car Craft ( we changed the name from C&M Stripe and Trim when we incorporated).
. . . In late 1986 I saw one of the first vinyl lettering machines. I was blown away. The machine had no screen at all, only 7 fonts and was so slow by today’s standards that it is now funny. . .
We researched the market and bought one of Fayetteville, North Carolina’s first vinyl plotters capable of cutting not only text but logos as well. While we did not plan on becoming a sign business, the demand was so great that we were able to spin a separate business off of Carolina Car Craft. That business originally was named Graphics Plus, but we later renamed it Image Graphics Inc. when we incorporated.
Since then Betty Jo and I have lettered countless trucks, vans, police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. We have always continued to stay on the cutting edge of technology and design. We got one of the first digital vinyl printers in 1996 and in 2007 we bought a state of the art vinyl wrap printer and laminator.
Through the years there have been good economic times and bad economic times. We plan on weathering anything that comes in the future the same way we have in the past: strong work ethic, not living beyond our means and giving our customers the best service we can. Most of all, we plan on continuing to work together as a family, which to me is the best pay anyone could ever ask for.
. . . We thank each and every customer that we have served in the last 20 years from the bottom of our hearts. . .
Our customers are not just names in a database, you are our friends, and you are the people that make it possible for us to continue working together as a family.
Thank You,
Mark & Betty Jo Averitt