Continuing the family legacy of Mike’s Marine Custom Canvas
April 1st, 2025
Dan Johnson of Mike's Marine Custom Canvas. Photography by Liza Wolfe Photography A wall displaying nearly 30 years of industry awards marks the entrance to Mike’s Marine Custom Canvas in Virginia Beach, Va.—a testament to the shop’s history of quality and craftsmanship. For Dan Johnson—who succeeded his father, Mike, as owner two years ago—these awards are […]
With myriad shapes and materials, tents continue to evolve
March 1st, 2025
A Keder Garden Tent at a wedding, featuring vertical glass walls, a 9-foot door with 5-foot pulls, a 25-by-10-meter (82-by-32-foot) pergola and a printed marquee. Image: Fred’s Tents & Canopies While traditional tent styles are always popular with consumers, there also are numerous requests for new and different event venues. As a result, tent and […]
Custom printed linens unlock growth opportunities
October 1st, 2024
Ideal Tent and Event Rentals, Tea, S.D., originally used this Panama linen tablecloth, custom-printed by A1 Tablecloth, South Hackensack, N.J., to showcase its linen printing services. However, customers were so drawn to it that it has since been requested for weddings as a specialty drink table and cake table covering. Image: Ideal Tent and Event […]
Ron Nissenbaum reflects on Humphrys’ 150 years
September 1st, 2024
Photography by HKB Photo With early but short-lived career aspirations of becoming a sports broadcaster, Ron “Boots” Nissenbaum instead built a 56-year career providing a different type of coverage—several types, in fact. As CEO of Humphrys, Nissenbaum oversees three separate Philadelphia, Pa.,-based companies under the Humphrys umbrella and a fourth recent acquisition: Humphrys CoverSports, an […]
Growing demand for graphics
November 1st, 2023
Fred’s Tents mastered the look and feel of a cabin for a Chattanooga Tent customer’s lodge-themed birthday party by printing the tent’s roof panels and sidewalls with a wood pattern and applying a faux wood finish to the tent’s framework and poles. Image: Fred’s Tents While ushering the world into a new digital era, the […]
Andrea Lynn on how shade sails have kept her creative
October 1st, 2023
It takes less than a five-minute conversation with Andrea Lynn to appreciate her earnest enthusiasm for shade sails—which is why her reflection on a decades-long career in the industry may come as a surprise. “I jumped into the business with rose-colored glasses on,” she muses. “This journey has been more than worthwhile, but if I […]
Scott Neville: Prioritize trust to join legacy companies
July 1st, 2023
Fifteen years ago, Scott Neville was a newcomer to the shade industry. In partnership with his father, Ron, he has since acquired three renowned awning companies with more than 300 years of combined industry leadership. And he’s just getting started. An avid challenge-seeker, Neville joined the industry in 2008 in Springfield, Mo. He and his […]
Weathering all seasons
January 1st, 2023
© Mark Skalny Photography Sails have propelled Brydon Roe’s personal and professional paths for as long as he can remember. He and his brother grew up boating and windsurfing on the lakes of Ontario, Canada, before getting their first jobs at a windsurfing shop and eventually opening their own. Enticed by its sunny beaches, they […]
Mike Charlton defines success on his own terms
November 1st, 2022
Brian Newson Photography. Mike Charlton begins most weekdays with a leisurely cup of coffee on his back porch with his wife and business partner, Rachel Charlton, in Yorktown, Va. They typically leave for work by 9 a.m., where they fabricate custom marine canvas projects until 5 p.m.—at the latest. If they’re a few minutes late, […]
Exceeding expectations
February 1st, 2022
Shari Albertson is vice president of sales at Austin Canvas & Awning, a commercial and residential awning manufacturer and installer in Charlotte, N.C. She has over 15 years of awning sales experience and is the qualifying representative for the company’s general contractor’s licenses in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Yet nearly every time Albertson […]