A used manual press and 800 square feet.
Graph-Tex opened in Cortland in 1984 printing for local teams and businesses. Four moves and one embroidery department later, it runs regional and national accounts out of a 30,000 square foot building on Elm Street — with more than 35 people, and the same small team orders it started on.
- Founded
- 1984
- Facility
- 30,000 sq ft
- People
- 35+
- Screen printing
- Since the 1980s
- Embroidery
- Since 1995
- At 46 Elm St
- Since 2000
Four things we will not change.
Nothing gets subbed out
Art, screen printing, and embroidery are all on Elm Street. That is not a boast about capacity — it is the reason a colour correction found at proof costs an afternoon instead of a week of shipping between three vendors.
The small order is the original business
This shop started in 1984 printing for local teams. A twelve-piece order is not overflow work here; it is the work the building was bought with, and it goes through the same press as the ten-thousand-piece run.
Design comes before production
Most decorated apparel fails at the drawing, not at the press. The in-house art staff draws for the garment, the audience, and the decoration method at once — then makes it printable.
Your file stays here
Approved artwork, separations, digitizing, and thread numbers live on your account. Season two starts from season one instead of from someone hunting through email.
Started with a used press.
Eight hundred square feet of rented second floor in 1984. Thirty thousand square feet and thirty-five people now, in a building the company has run out of since 2000.
A used press and 800 square feet
Graph-Tex opens in Cortland with a used manual press and 800 square feet of rented second-floor space, screen printing for local teams and businesses.
24 Court Street
The shop moves to 24 Court Street and grows to six employees.
Luker Road, and a storefront
A move to a 7,500 square foot facility on Luker Road. The same year, Geared 2 Sports opens as Cortland's hometown sporting goods store.
Embroidery comes in-house
An embroidery department is added, turning a screen printing shop into a full decorating house.
46 Elm Street
Graph-Tex moves into the 30,000 square foot facility it still runs from today — art, screen printing, and embroidery under one roof.
Thirty-five people, national accounts
More than 35 people run regional and national accounts out of Cortland, alongside the team orders the shop was built on.
Cortland teams and national brands.
The same building runs a twelve-piece order for a travel team and a multi-site rollout for a national account. Neither one gets treated like the other one's overflow.
Athletics & education
- Syracuse University
- Army West Point
- IMG Academy
- NCAA
- Utica Comets
- YMCA
National brands
- Coca-Cola
- Amazon
- Benjamin Moore
- American Red Cross
- Pall
Health & institutions
- Guthrie
- Cayuga Medical Center
- Lime Hollow Nature Center
Central New York
- Byrne Dairy
- Ithaca Beer Co.
- Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards
- Greek Peak Mountain Resort
- Suit-Kote
- Mirabito
- Gutchess Lumber
- ADMAR
- McNeil & Co.
- Wadhams Enterprises
- Coffee Mania
Two more doors in Cortland.
Cortland’s hometown sporting goods store since 1991, and a division of Graph-Tex. Equipment, footwear, and apparel for lacrosse, soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, football, and recreational sports.
- Address
- 24 Court Street, Cortland
- Phone
- 607-756-1875
- Hours
- Mon–Fri 10–6 · Sat 10–2
Built by Graph-Tex to sell custom lacrosse online — exclusive tees and hats through to men’s and women’s sticks, pads, helmets, and footwear.
Tell us what you need on it.
A quantity, a date, and whatever artwork you have. We will come back with garment options and a quote — not another form.