In an interview with PrintWeek, Image Craft president Doug Olson said. "We’re picking up some equipment, but that’s sort of ancillary and certainly wasn’t the motivating factor for this deal.

"Image Craft operates out of a state-of-the-art facility in Phoenix and offered the same services that Qube had. But what really attracted us were the Qube staff and their relationship with their clients — and the fact they’ve been a presence in Denver for 30 years."

Image Craft has had a sales office in Denver for the past five years, Olson said, but added that almost all those clients are regional or national since the company’s production is based in Phoenix.

"Qube client’s base is primarily Denver and Colorado based and so combining with them will enable us to have a foundation of local as well as national clients," he noted.

Image Craft added it plans to keep the Denver sales team as well as the majority of Qube Visual employees on staff.

Image Craft is in the process of transitioning to environmentally friendly latex printing equipment, which only a small percentage of the industry utilizes.

In addition to traditional POP and arena signage, Image Craft has carved out a strong market in airports and other transportation hubs signage with backlits and banners, window graphics, floor graphics, posters and router cut displays.

Image Craft's business has seen an uptick recently, Olson said, especially in the retail sector. "We are seeing an increase in POP as budgets start to be loosened," he added. "A lot of people who had been sitting on their hands with marketing are showing a little more confidence and embarking on more aggressive programs that a year or two years ago."

Qube is not Image Craft's first acquisition and Olson noted: "We’ll be looking at additional deals if the opportunity is right."