Hayden, Kustom Kwik Print celebrating 50 years | Features

In the middle of July Marty Hayden, Kustom Kwik, 1111 Breckenridge Street, celebrated a 50-year partnership.

Hayden has a degree from the University of California Los Angeles in Business and spent two years with the U.S. Army in the military pay specialist role.

“I was in California working as an accountant for American Hospital Supply,” he said this week. “The quick printing business was booming in California. Sir Speedy Printing was looking to enter the Kentucky market. They had one already in Louisville. I asked if there would be any interest in a location in Owensboro. They said yes, and I got it.”

Hayden said he was ready to return home.

“We were a franchise for the first two years — Sir Speedy Printing,” he said. “After two years, we got divorced. And we became Kustom Kwik Print.”

“I didn’t know a thing about printing then.

“But Sir Speedy trained me.”

Kustom Kwik Print’s three locations have changed over the years.

“We started on Dieterle Drive, across from The Briarpatch, and stayed there five years,” Hayden said. “Then we moved to 18th Street in a center with One Long Rail Pool Hall and The Little Brown Jug. We stayed there for 15 years. It’s been razed since then.”

It was thirty years ago that the business relocated to its present location.

“This was Annie’s Farm Store before we moved here,” Hayden said. “They had 5,000 pair of the cowboy boots in stock.”

He said, “I probably have two or three customers who have been with me for 50 years.”

Hayden, Marie and Kerri Gillim are the only employees.

“Kerri is the face of the company now,” Hayden said. “People are more familiar with her than me. I hope she’ll take over when I retire.”

Blueprints have always been “a very significant part of our business,” he said. “We do a lot of blueprints and commercial printing — general business printing for small businesses, churches, doctors, schools.”

Today, Hayden said, “Nothing is similar to 50 years ago. It’s 100% digital now.”

Basil, the dog of their company, has been a familiar sight to its customers for almost four years.

“Customers bring her treats and toys,” Hayden said. “If she’s not out here, they ask about her. We enjoy the personal aspect.”