There is, unfortunately, nothing new about companies that go under in this industry. Ever since anyone can remember, the printing industry has suffered its fair share of fatalities. Big or small, companies have come and gone. John Dyell, Norgraphics, Atwell Fleming, Agency Press, Lunenberg Press, Southam Murray and Hazeldine Press, among others, have all disappeared. In an extremely competitive industry like ours it’s a fact of life that a certain number of companies will bite the dust.
When a company closes its doors it is always regrettable but, in themselves, few closures are really big news. Why, then, the big commotion about the failure of Arthurs-Jones? The demise of the 95-year-old company struck a sensitive nerve with most of us. Its death was somehow more personal and more troubling than other company closures.

For most printers, Arthurs-Jones was not just another company. In its heyday in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Arthurs-Jones, or AJ as it was often called, made an indelible mark on the industry and changed the way we look at printing.
Arthurs-Jones had climbed to the peak of the industry and stood a league above most other companies. Its name was synonymous with unbelievable quality and a near obsession with customer service. AJ set the standard for quality and everyone else tried to match it. Back then, if you were an up-and-coming graphic designer and your work was printed at AJ, you knew you had made it.
Arthurs-Jones raised the industry to its level instead of sinking to the lowest common denominator (which happens all too often in this industry). It turned printing into an art form, not a commodity product. AJ proved that a company with a clear focus could stand out in a competitive market and become extremely successful.
So what went wrong? A lot of things. Too much debt, too many owners, lack of focus and a host of other problems.
But, in the end, it all boils down to people. It was people who built Arthurs-Jones and raised its reputation. They included Duncan McGregor, Garry McDonald, Don Cambridge, Dave Trimble and a host of others. Equipment, technology or money were not the main key. When the people started to leave or were fired, the team fell apart and the company began to crack.

Despite the money that was poured into AJ in the mid ’90s by then-owner Leland Verner, things still came apart. The people had gone and the glory days could not be recaptured. Past accomplishments and reputation will only carry you so far. In the printing business it is still the people who make or break a company.
Like the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Arthurs-Jones has left a legacy of what can be done in this industry by a group of people driven by desire, focus and a common mission. The death of Arthurs-Jones brings about the end of an era, but the legend lives on.