LANDING EAST! The Story of Italic Inc.'s expansion from Toronto into Saint John, New Brunswick
Leading visual-communications company ITALIC (who work with everyone from Ariana Grande and Justin Timberlake to Drake and Harry Styles) expands operations from Ontario into New Brunswick. Watch the video here!
When you run a thriving business in Toronto that fuses online web services with digital printing for some of the biggest companies and stars on the planet, moving to a small town in New Brunswick might seem something of a curveball. But for Dan Thompson, CEO and founder of Italic Press, it made perfect sense, both professionally and personally, to move his family to Quispamsis and then open up a new branch of Italic nestled right beside Saint John Airport. And the risk has paid off. Italic opened its Saint John location in 2021, and it was hugely successful and — yes — profitable less than a year later.
“My wife Kendra and I had lived in Toronto for twenty-five years since graduating university. But we’re Maritimers, and we wanted to make it back. We had a five-year plan at one time, but the five year plan just kept being pushed back, as things were going well for us. We love Toronto, don’t get me wrong, but there was always a real gnawing feeling to get back. My family lives here, and we
have a beautiful old homestead on the Kennebecasis River, with lifestyle and beauty that you just can’t find in Toronto.
“In 2019, we made the decision to move home to Saint John after being away for so long. And it was a great decision. It was primarily for the kids because we wanted them to have roots in the province that we both loved and for them to experience living in the Maritimes before they grew up and had to make their journey in the world, wherever that may take them. Once we got back here, I was flying back and forth to Toronto every week for three or four days, working and visiting clients, making sure the business was operating, but we had always set ourselves up to be a digital business, so we were already set up for this.
READ FULL FEATURE IN [EDIT] MAGAZINE
An Edit Media Production
Directed by Tyler Warren Ellis
Interview by James Mullinger
Filmed and edited by Tyler Warren Ellis
Produced by Pamela Mullinger
For more information visit:
www.maritimeedit.com
atlanticchamber.ca
Read James Mullinger's interview with Dan Thomson and his team at Italic in the Fall Volume of [EDIT] magazine:
www.maritimeedit.com