Industrial-sized opportunities
Autoexotic specializes in graphics for big trucks and rigs and provides logo design services as well as graphics production, and installation. In addition to wraps and lettering, they also offer striping and decals. They work on the larger sleeper semi-trailers, 400-barrel tanks, tank trailers and Super Bs, along with king-sized utility trucks with cranes.

Autoexotic also handles plenty of box trucks, vans, personal vehicles, boats and snowmobiles, and has wrapped race cars, dirt bikes, golf carts, and helicopters. They’ve gone above and beyond to wrap the roof of a high-rise Kenworth sleeper semi-trailer, and even offer custom touches such as wrapping the interior panels on vehicles.

Roxanne and Albert estimate their shop has done hundreds of wraps over the years. Between 50 and 60 per cent of their business is fleet wraps. As mentioned, many of their customers work in the oil and gas industry, as well as the trucking trades like construction, electrical, plumbing, etc. Their fleet clients will order truck or equipment decals in sets of 20 to 50 at least once a month, and sometimes more often. Autoexotic supplies and install various decal packages, and helps these clients with their signage needs as well.

In terms of their vehicle graphics work, about 70 per cent is lettering, and of that percentage, about half is printed and half is cut vinyl. About 15 per cent of their vehicle graphics business is partial wraps and 15 per cent full wraps. “Wraps are definitely on the increase. We get a minimum of a phone call a day asking, ‘Do you wrap?’” said Roxanne. The requests range from smaller jobs, like a chrome delete, to grills or bumpers, on up to colour change wraps and full graphics.

“We find it difficult to sell a designed partial or full wrap for a personal vehicle,” said Roxanne. “Most of the designed wraps we do are for commercial vehicles. These clients are looking for impactful graphics that represent their brand and advertise their services.”

Standing out from the crowd
In and around Grand Prairie, the Peters can name at least five well-established sign shops that are their direct competitors, along with several shops that do paper printing and some vinyl printing. There are also a few “backyard shops” that pop up, with wrappers that work out of a basement or garage. “The market for wraps continues to get more crowded here like in other cities. It’s really important for us to maintain our relationships with current clients and to always provide quality wraps at a good price so that we can stay competitive,” said Albert.