Inland Products Celebrates 30th Anniversary
The company has grown to offer more than just the engraved pet tags its foundation is built on.
Menifee, California-based Inland Products, a manufacturer and distributor of tags, metal labels, nameplates, and signs recently celebrated 30 years of business. Over the years, the company has grown to offer more than just the engraved pet tags its foundation is built on.
Inland Products began in 1988 when Andrew Christie and his wife ordered a pet tag for their dog. “I was working in a manufacturing company at the time and realized I had the ability to make these tags myself as a part-time business, and did so for a few years, before quitting my job and going full-time in the business,” says Christie.
“We initially made only engraved pet tags for sale to pet owners and later realized that we were better off selling the blank tags to engravers in bulk quantities and letting them sell to the end user,” Christie explains.
This worked well for a number of years, until computerized pet tag engraving machines started showing up in big chain stores, according to Christie. To make up for the toll that took on the business, Christie says they had to start adding other types of tags and nameplates to the product line.
Nowadays, Inland has products available for other companies to personalize for their own customer bases, including awards and engraving shops, sign and graphics companies, and printing businesses.
Christie’s wife joined the business a few years after its founding and their son now works there as well, as he gets ready to take over the business. Including the family, Inland Products employees 11 people.
“I like the fact that we are a family business and we are a manufacturing business here in the U.S.,” Christie states. “We are always looking for new products to manufacture and new opportunities to grow the business.”
He adds that they will be moving to a larger building soon as they are limited in the current space.
For more information, visit www.inlandproducts.com.