Laura Hyden’s business began as a small online Etsy store. In 2011 she got her first Yeti cooler, added a decal and put it up for sale.
“I got tons of orders,” she said. “The response was huge; then Yeti contacted me and said, ‘Send us your decal.’ They tested it for durability, liked our product and started sending people to us.”
Hill Country Signs offers custom designs and monogramming services, and smaller customized items, such as necklaces, phone cases and stickers are also for sale.[/caption]
Hill Country Signs now adds custom design ideas onto a mix of products. Hyden opened a brick-and-mortar store in 2013 in Liberty Hill and moved to a larger store in Leander last year.
The business provides services such as branding for companies, T-shirts for teams and monogramming for gifts. Hyden said she offers customization in the forms of banner signs; decals; screen printing; embroidery; and sublimation, in which a customized logo or design is melted into a product.
“We can do sublimation with pencils, golf balls, ChapStick, sunscreen —anything you can think of to put a brand on,” Hyden said. “We’re mostly known for our Yeti products because of how many we do. We offer etching and decals, and you can order one or 700.”
Hyden said many organizations that do not meet the minimum quantity order requirement from Yeti are referred to Hill Country Signs, so most of her store’s customers are corporate and out of state. She said she sold about 270,000 Yeti products last year.
“We have a bunch of online stores,” she said. “We have done thousands of orders through Etsy since opening six years ago.”
Hyden said her business is most known for selling and customizing Yeti products. She receives both local and out-of-state orders.[/caption]
Hyden said locals also shop at Hill Country Signs. Aside from custom designs, the rest of the store is set up as a boutique. She said after Yeti, the Jon Hart brand is the most popular seller. She can also add customization to items such as necklaces, lunchboxes and phone cases.
She also sells smaller items such as keychains and sunglasses holders that can be customized quickly as well as stickers to add to Yeti products. Some Yeti cups and T-shirts are also pre-decorated with Texas sayings.
Catalogs are available in-shop to browse through in case one wants even more product template options, or customers can bring an item in for customization.
Hill Country Signs 719 US 183, Leander 512-548-6648 http://hillcountrysigns.webs.com Hours: Tue.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.10 a.m.-2 p.m., Sun.-Mon. closed
