Teen entrepreneur has real stick-with-it attitude
CHATHAM If all goes according to plan over the next five years, Alexis Van Dolder hopes to expand her sticker business to Windsor, London and Sarnia.
It’s a long shot. Then again, so is starting a successful business at age 15.
Sticker That is a vinyl decal company started by Van Dolder in 2013. Then a summer project, the business has grown to its present storefront location on Grand Avenue and is set to open a second storefront in the popular St. Clair Road and Pioneer Line shopping area.
It wasn’t what Van Dolder expected when she started.
“We were in the mall one day and my parents bought a vinyl sign,” she said. “I couldn’t think of a summer project I wanted to do ... but once we got home I was interested so I started looking into machines and stuff.”
Van Dolder is a do-it-yourself person, the kind who would rather do her own repairs around the house than pay someone to come in.
But she needed a hand financing the venture as a Grade 11 student.
“We’re a team,” said Ed Van Dolder, Alexis’s father. “I’m good at talking with people, she’s good at computers ... I couldn’t do this without her and she couldn’t do this without us.”
Van Dolder’s parents chipped in for a discounted vinyl cutter from a store in Toronto, bought during a Boxing Day sale. When they returned to Chatham Van Dolder set up in the spare bedroom and went to work, starting a Facebook page and drumming up support for the venture.
For Van Dolder it was a dream come true. Self-employment always interested her and in Grade 12 she actually convinced her high school to let her employ herself as a co-op student.
“Now all the co-op teachers use her as an example,” Ed Van Dolder said, laughing.
After graduation Van Dolder went into the business full time, moving into a facility on Grand Avenue East behind their current location.
Then when the roadside unit became available she and her parents jumped at the opportunity, shifting their wares to the more visible location.
“Initially, there’d be guys who’d want a sticker for their vehicle, or something,” Ed Van Dolder said. “And then you’d have businesses, so we’d do signs and business cards for them.”
“Now it’s schools, the city,” Alexis Van Dolder added. “Bigger factories.”
This spring Sticker That will open a second location on St. Clair Road. The new location is in a more heavily travelled area and will serve as the company’s main storefront. The Grand Avenue location will become the company’s primary production facility.
The expansion was something Van Dolder and her parents have been planning for a while.
“When we moved out of the house we wanted to be there,” said Ed Van Dolder. “I’ve lived in Chatham my whole life ... with the Home Depot and Walmart and everything else out that way, I know that intersection is probably the busiest in Chatham, or one of the busiest.”
Alexis Van Dolder, going forward, is looking towards novelty stock and licensed brands especially in sports. She says they hope to work with more festivals around Chatham-Kent over the next few years and, eventually, in places as far as Windsor, London, and Sarnia.
We’re a team ... I couldn’t do this without her and she couldn’t do this without us.