Happiness contagious at local print shop By CAROLYN DRYER, Editor The Glendale Star July 20, 2011

Eleven years, 11 months and 29 days. That’s how Linda Cabrera described how long her business, Happy Printers, has been open at 4425 W. Glendale Ave., No. 9. Happy Printers is a state-certified, minority woman-owned business.

It is not a big business, but through the years, Cabrera has kept the doors open and her customers happy with personalized service and a commitment to local vendors.

“There are some types of printing that I am not able to do in-house, and I do farm it out, using Arizona vendors,” Cabrera said. “I know I could get printing done cheaper online/out of state, which prospective customers often tell me. But I refuse to give my business to out-of-state vendors if I can get it done here.”

With that commitment, Cabrera said she is able to offer “next day business cards” at reasonable prices.

Although it has been just 11-plus years since she opened Happy Printers, Cabrera said she has been in the printing business since 1972. She ventured out on her own in a store in a small shopping center just east of 45th Avenue, and it is there she conducts her daily business.

It is more than a printing business. Cabrera offers trinkets and toys, candy and gum, plus an inviting chair and table for customers to watch as she prepares their printing jobs.

She also foregoes the “Have a Nice Day” phrase once the job is done. Instead, Cabrera said she looks her customers in the eye and says, “Thank you for your business.”

She also calls herself a Recycle Queen.

“I don’t throw any paper away,” she said. “If it is only printed on one side, I chop it up and make scratch pads out of it and give them away. Paper that is printed on two sides, I put in a recycle bin, personal information, I shred first, of course.”

She is aware of the advantages of the Internet and social media, and is in the process of creating a business website. She has an established facebook page, facebook.com/happyprinters, where she lists weekly specials.

In the meantime, if you are looking for the personal touch to your business cards, or for something unusual in the printing business, stop by Happy Printers and expect to be treated like royalty. If you step into Cabrera’s office, you will not be sitting on a stiff folding chair; you will be seated on a nice cushioned space with a friendly, old-fashioned attitude.

Give Linda a call at 623 931-3747, or e-mail her at happyprinters@qwestoffice.net.