A new era for Derksen Printers

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This article was published 07/03/2023 (738 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Derksen Printers, the company that publishes The Carillon, has sold its buildings in Steinbach, but plans to remain an important part of the community for many years to come.

That’s according to publisher Laurie Finley, who made the announcement Friday.

Finley said Derksen Printers is made up of three separate buildings. About 18 months ago, the option to sell one of them came up.

“We had a lot of equipment that was very old, and it was either reinvest in that or look at consolidating some of that work into one of our Winnipeg plants,” he said.

Derksen Printers has been owned by FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership since 2011. That’s the same company that owns the Winnipeg Free Press and the Brandon Sun.

That left excess space in the building that was previously home to sheet fed presses and bindery equipment.

“In the end, the building actually sold quite quickly,” Finley said.

That sparked interest in selling the other buildings and leasing them back.

“Like a lot of other companies, it was looked at, can we sell these other two buildings, lease them back to stay in them, but unlock that real estate value so that we can take the cash into the business,” he said.

That resulted in the sale of the building home to the web printing operation and the main building home to Carillon staff and some shipping and receiving.

Finley said Derksen Printers and The Carillon remain dedicated to the community.

“Derksen Printers continues to operate,” he said. “We continue to print over 40 different newspapers out of our web business and The Carillon continues to publish weekly as it always has.”

“The plans going forward are to continue to lease these buildings for the foreseeable future,” he said. “If for some reason that was decided to change, we would then look at renting another facility, but The Carillon is still going to publish in Steinbach and we’re still going to do web printing as we have for the last 85 years.”

There has been plenty of change over the years in the newspaper industry and while COVID was a blow to the entire industry, recovery has occurred.

“The Carillon is still a vital part of the community, an award winning newspaper that recently won best all round newspaper in Canada once again,” he said.

The printing side of the business has boasted a strong return, running 40 to 45 percent ahead of pre-COVID numbers. The Carillon side remains about five percent below pre-COVID due to supply chain issues that have affected automotive manufacturing and advertising, an issue felt across the industry.

Derksen Printers was founded in 1936 by Gerhard Derksen.