Denver's IndyInk Closes Warehouse, Lays Off Six

IndyInk, one of Denver's most recognizable and proudly local screenprinting and design companies, has been a mainstay of the arty business scene since its founding in 2002. What began as a single printing press in the back of a house has blossomed into warehouse operations, gallery exhibits and the streetwear retail chain Abstract, with four locations in town.

Now, though, the pain of contraction has hit IndyInk.

"I've been quiet about this, but tomorrow is my last day at IndyInk," employee Jack Michaelis posted on Facebook on January 9. He is one of six employees laid off last week — essentially the entire Denver-based production team. "The company decided to move all production to outsourcing in a different state. I'm incredibly bummed out by the decisions, as I was the head printer and was production manager for a time."

IndyInk's president and co-founder, Aaron Cohrs, explains the situation differently. "We are moving our production out of state, but we are not outsourcing," he says. "We have partnered with another shop, so we still have control of production and quality. It just became a better business option to move production to somewhere with lower operating costs. All the shop owners here in Denver that I have talked to have been facing the same issues, so as much as we loved our warehouse, it just made sense."

IndyInk had moved into the warehouse at 1474 South Acoma Street early in 2020. Its previous warehouse production facility was smaller, but prior to COVID, business was healthy enough that the company needed more floor space to house printing equipment and stock.

But now that warehouse is closed, and the employees who worked there have been let go.

Denver's latest minimum wage increase, which went into effect on January 1, is partly to blame for the layoffs, according to Cohrs. "Before our production moved to the current warehouse five years ago, minimum wage was $12.85 an hour," he notes. "It is now $18.81. That's a steep increase over a short period of time, and it was a factor in our decision."

Additionally, he notes: "There is no garment distributor in Denver anymore, anyway. We used to drive down to our distributor and pick up our T-shirts for printing, but now everything has to be shipped to us. We spent last year finding a production partner that could keep our quality reliable and consistent. The timing worked out, and we ended up in a great relationship with a long-established contract printer outside of Chicago that was looking for new ownership." Cohrs declines to name that printer or offer details of its partnership with IndyInk.

IndyInk's four Abstract retail locations — the original at 742 Santa Fe Drive, a shop at 5501 West 20th in Edgewater, an outpost in Stanley Marketplace, and a mall store at 303 16th Street — won't be affected.

This hasn't been a very happy month for IndyInk. The company also lost one of its own, renowned local visual artist and former employee Markham "Shitty Kitten" Maes, who died on December 12.

"I know 2024 was a very hard year for screenprinters, but also for the economy in general," Cohrs says. "All of our existing customers across the board were placing smaller orders or not able to order at all last year, and very little new business was coming in. I think 2025 will see a shift as we hopefully get over the ramifications of COVID and inflation."

But in the meantime, he admits, laying off employees is "really is the hardest part."