California Printer, Buried by Mudslide, Seeks to Restart
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Somu Desai, owner of Desert Promotions: "We are beggars right now and can’t be choosers. Anything we can get our hands on will be one less thing to worry about.”
The mud came in during the night, amid the torrential rains of Hurricane Hilary, which brought flooding to Cathedral City, California. On August 20th, up to four feet deep in places, mud washed across the parking lot of Desert Promotions, a producer of vinyl graphics, wraps, decorated apparel, and other items, and entered the building, breaking doors and windows, buckling walls, and burying everything inside.
According to Somu Desai, owner of Desert Promotions, the company’s equipment, computers, and supplies were, “a total loss. Everything was under mud for eight days.” Since that time, he and a team of volunteers have been working to get business back underway, and there has been much to do. Cleanup, he says, is 90% done, with mold mitigation procedures currently underway. The type of damage experienced was not covered by insurance.
While the building may soon be ready, the company lacks production equipment. Desai is now scrambling to source presses, printers, embroidery systems, dryers, computers, and supplies — all the things he had acquired as the business grew. For now, Desert Promotions is subbing out work to other producers and working with wholesale printers to fulfill some jobs. Other local printers and decorators are also serving to fill the gap. That said, the company needs equipment to truly get back to work.
How the Industry Can Help
Asked what the company needs, Desai says he hopes suppliers or other printers would be able to donate or discount equipment to help get his operations back underway. “We lost all the equipment, all the computers, the inks are gone. Screens, vinyl, banner material – anything to help us start from scratch. We are beggars right now and can’t be choosers. Anything we can get our hands on will be one less thing to worry about.”
A list of what the company is seeking to replace is listed below: "That's just the big stuff," Desai says. In addition to the machines, the company also lost computers, software, and many of the other, smaller tools the company used to produce work.
If you are interested in helping Desert Promotions get back on its feet, contact Somu Desai at 760-449-1569 or somu@desertpromo.com
What Was Lost
Apparel Decoration Equipment
- Two Anatol automatic carousel presses
- Two BBC garment drying systems
- Small Vastex garment drying system
- Two single head embroidery units
- Four head embroidery unit
- Two six head embroidery units
- Epson direct-to-garment printer
- Insta heat press
- Insta hat press
- Stahl’s Hotronix heat press
Engraving and Decoration Devices
- Roland UV object printer
- Universal laser engraving unit
- Xenotec engraver
Wide-Format Equipment
- Epson dye-sublimation printer
- GBC laminator
- Graphtec cutter/plotter
- Mimaki 64” solvent-based inkjet printer
- Epson DTG Printer
- Roland plotter/cutter
- Roland inkjet printer (stolen from damaged building)
Dan Marx, Content Director for Wide-Format Impressions, holds extensive knowledge of the graphic communications industry, resulting from his more than three decades working closely with business owners, equipment and materials developers, and thought leaders.
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