Dana Giesen and John Giesen
In the spring of 1974, Dennis Sayers was an art teacher at New River Community College, while Jon Wyatt was Industrial arts teacher at Radford University. Sayers and Wyatt had been friends for many years, and both had backgrounds in graphics. Their mutual respect for graphics, as well as an entrepreneurial spirit, led them to begin trying their hand at screen printing. No one else in Radford was providing the service, and the two men thought that partnering in a screen-printing company just might be lucrative decision.
From 1974 to 1977, screen-printing remained a hobby for Dennis and Jon. They were just getting started and had to maintain their teaching positions to make ends meet. For those first three years, they fulfilled all their orders from Jon’s basement. Their very first job was for the Virginia Tech All Sports Camp, adding a screen-print decoration to hundreds of wooden paddles.
From that first successful order, word slowly began to spread.
That was the beginning of Eleven West, Inc., the New River Valley’s first screen printing, embroidery, and specialty product company. The origin of the name is a mystery, but Eleven West’s physical location on Route 11, west of Radford, seems to be as good an explanation as any!
As the business ramped up, Dennis and Jon found themselves in need of occasional help. After all, they were still trying to juggle teaching careers as well as a burgeoning business. Luckily, the perfect candidate was already at hand.
John Giesen had graduated from Radford High School in 1975 where Dennis Sayers had been his drafting teacher. In addition to the normal teacher/student dynamic, Dennis got to know John better while John was dating his niece.
In that first year, John was having a great time. He was still in high school, hanging out with people he enjoyed, and doing work that set him on the path to his future. Once he entered college, he kept returning to Dennis and Jon for summer work.
Eventually, John broke up with Dennis’ niece, but that’s not where the story, or the friendship, ends. As it turns out, Dennis ended up dating and then marrying, John’s sister, Anne! It was then that Anne also joined the business as part of the art room staff.
After graduating from Roanoke College in 1979, John continued working with Dennis and Jon at Eleven West, doing production management for them until the early 1980’s.
In 1988, however, Jon Wyatt made the decision to leave the company. Wyatt’s in-laws had a huge dairy farm, and Eleven West sits in the middle of it! When Wyatt’s in-laws got too old to do the hard work, he left to help them with the farm.
Rather than seeing this as a sign of the business faltering, John Giesen saw it as an opportunity. After Wyatt’s departure, John got even more involved with the company. He thought it was a great business with lots of potential, and so he bought in as part owner. When John’s wife, Dana, joined the business as a sales rep in 1994, Eleven West became a true family business.
In the forty years and more of Eleven West, the screen-printing industry has evolved tremendously, specifically when it comes to technologically. In the early days, printed transfers were used to decorate t-shirts. Since then, this slow and tedious process has been replaced by high-speed, automatic printing which allows for the decoration of 500 shirts per hour! Also, embroidery equipment used to use punch-paper ‘tapes’ to stitch one piece at a time. Now, computerized machines are used to stitch up to six or more garments at once.
The biggest change, however, is in the graphic design area. The computer has taken hours of work off the hands of the artist. For Eleven West, it has also enabled clients to create their own designs through the website at no additional cost.
The folks at Eleven West have also witnessed major changes in the product mix. In the beginning, basic T-shirts and sweatshirts were the focus for decoration, resulting in a very limited garment selection. Now, they offer literally thousands of wearables! These include varying fabric contents and weights, such as tri-blend and UV resistant, soft shell, and waterproof materials. There has also been the introduction of ‘retail’ brands such as Carhartt, Nike, North Face, and Ogio.
Also increasing in product selection are specialty products. Early years saw Eleven West producing pens, mugs, stadium cups, and keychains. Now, they can also offer iPhone wallets, antibacterial pens, Post-It notes, computer camera covers, and wireless speakers. Literally anything that can be printed with a name, Eleven West can get.
As a group of sports enthusiasts, the folks at Eleven West gravitate towards athletic teams and events. In the early 1980’s, they printed for University of North Carolina, as well as North Carolina State, when they won national championships in basketball. They printed garments all through the night and delivered them to Belk stores in North Carolina the morning after the teams won. The North Carolina State connection also allowed them to cultivate a relationship with Coach Jim Valvano, for whom they produced a line of clothing during his later years.
Another memorable relationship was with Frank Beamer. Dennis and Frank were high school friends. Dennis played for Dublin High School while Frank played for rival, Hillsville. The friendship continued for many years and the line of clothing for Beamer Ball was born in Frank’s office at Virginia Tech. The term ‘Beamer Ball’, as well as the line of clothing that highlighted the slogan, was originally produced by Eleven West.
Dennis, John, and the family at Eleven West enjoy being able to provide for multiple sectors. Their client base includes individuals that need as few as ten garments, to universities and corporations that need thousands. They also serve retail outlets on Quantico Marine Corp base, supplying the FBI Academy’s store a wide variety of merchandise.
Currently, Eleven West is recovering from a multitude of pandemic setbacks. However, they are back on track to have a record sales year in 2022. The Marine Corp base at Quantico is reopening to the public. FBI, DEA, and NA training centers are back in full swing. All the local schools and universities are welcoming students back to the classrooms. With all that, as well as life just getting back to normal for most folks and their life events, production at the Fairlawn facility is in full swing. All fifteen employees are hard at work, keeping up with the demand from local, regional, and national accounts.
“Our great employees, along with our loyal customers, are what makes Eleven West successful,” says John Giesen, President of Eleven West. “Our mission statement is to build long term relationships with our customers and employees, and we strive for this to happen every day.”
In a time when so much emphasis is placed on shooting emails back and forth, instead of having voice-to-voice or in-person interactions, Eleven West prides themselves on taking the time to walk their customers through the process, helping them find what they want and need.
Eleven West • John Giesen and Dana Giesen
6598 New River Road, Fairlawn, VA
www.ElevenWest.com • 540-639-9319