Carla Duncan
By Ed Avis
TR Trades in Vancouver, British Columbia is a long-established reprographics shop with nearly 60 years of history serving the AEC community. But the business also is on the cutting edge of technology and is the go-to place for challenging print projects.
“I always have people coming to me for weird stuff,” says Carla Duncan, the second-generation owner of the company. “We're known for doing things that other people don’t do, and quickly. Clients call and say, ‘The other shop told me to call you, Carla, because you’re apparently the only one who can do things like this.’”
What kind of “weird stuff” do they print? Duncan says a recent example was a project to print directly onto glass to create a stained glass-like look. The project, destined for a client in the movie industry, was printed on TR Trade’s recently acquired SwissQprint flatbed UV printer.
Other innovative products the company has printed include rubber floor mats, interactive 3D puzzles, fabric art displays, wooden name tags, balcony glass printing, and an entire 2-inch thick, double-sided door with spot gloss.
Those types of projects are important for the company, but at its core it is still a reprographics firm.
“We still run a full repro department,” Duncan says. “We have four PageWides.”
Deep History
Carla Duncan’s father, Harold Duncan, joined the company as a delivery driver two months after it was founded in 1969, and a year later he bought out the owners. Over the following decades he built the company into a key provider to the AEC community in Vancouver.
Carla was studying business management at the university when she joined the company in 2008, right after the real estate crash devastated the market. She became the sales manager and helped get the company out of the rut caused by the recession. Her success eased her father’s move into retirement.
“He said, ‘Hey, you know, this girl knows what she’s doing. I’m gonna go boating,’” Carla remembers. “And he kind of got out of the company.”
Carla ran the business together with her sister for the following 10 years, and when her sister left the company, Carla took over completely. She also eventually earned her university degree by attending school part time.
Building with Technology
The business has thrived by continuously adopting new technologies. For example, early in Duncan’s tenure, she added an advanced online planroom to handle customer files, and later she brought in a large-format flatbed scanner that can scan in 2D and 3D modes.
“Then we advanced the company into outdoor printing, and we expanded the whole small format finishing department,” Duncan says. “We now do more advanced things, like perfect binding, CNC cutting, and implemented a variety of laminators and high-speed finishers”
The AEC market also continues to be strong for TR Trades, even though paper volumes are down. “We have too much capacity in that area, but it’s still a good market,” Duncan says.
The company’s skills across various markets is important, but the core characteristic of TR Trades is its deep connection to the Vancouver community.
“We’re independent and we’re locally owned in Vancouver,” Duncan says. “We’ve been around since 1969 and the core of our business has always been graphics reproduction. We’ve weathered all these storms and we’re going strong.”
Deep IRgA Roots
Duncan rejoined IRgA just last month after many years of non-membership. However, her father found great value in membership early in his time as owner. The company history section on the firm’s website includes this passage:
“Upon taking over the business, Harold joined the International Reprographics Association and immediately capitalized on his membership by travelling extensively, visiting hundreds of reprographics shops around North America. He surveyed larger and more advanced reprographics businesses, discovering the newest technology and bringing that knowledge back to Vancouver to implement into his business.”
Let’s welcome Carla to the IRgA and invite her to continue her father’s practice of learning from fellow members!