An Interview with Brian & Michael Shearer
Brian Shearer circa 1975 repairing a typewriter
Drew Reed
How was the business started? Why did it start? Why did your [Brian] grandpa choose printing?
Brian Shearer
I have no clue. I don't know if my grandfather was a printer...Prior to that, I don't know.
Drew Reed
So did you know your grandpa pretty well?
Brian Shearer
I mean, he died when I was like 18, so yeah...
Drew Reed
So what was he doing before he printed?
Brian Shearer
I have no clue.
Drew Reed
Really?
Brian Shearer
No.
Drew Reed
...it never came up in conversation?
Brian Shearer
He was too busy yelling at me -- get a haircut! [Laughter]
Drew Reed
...Michael is fourth generation [to part own the company]?
Brian Shearer
Yes
Drew Reed
...so you've [Brian] been with the company over 30 years? How long?
Brian Shearer
48
Drew Reed
48!
I knew it was a lot. I mean...
Brian Shearer
That is a lot.
Drew Reed
...a good amount of time. 48 years.
Brian Shearer
Yes.
Drew Reed
(To Michael) How long have you been [with the company]?
Michael Shearer
15 years in August.
Drew Reed
But I mean, you were always kind of part of [the company]...just being around.
Michael Shearer
Oh yeah. [I] did some odds and ends things around here...
So yeah, 15 plus.
Drew Reed
You have a brother, right?
Michael Shearer
Yep.
Drew Reed
(To Brian) Who I saw at the game [Jackrabbits Baseball] the other night, who you were with?
Brian Shearer
Mhm
Drew Reed
Okay. That's what I thought it was y'all look exactly alike.
Michael Shearer
All those early years were Craig and I, pushing each other on the typewriter cart that's back there in the shop.
Drew Reed
So we're not really sure about the printing thing...It just kind of came out of nowhere, but the furniture and the office machines. That was pretty deliberate. So where did that start, and how?
Brian Shearer
That probably came out of the move. Our original location was at 101 East Broadway. And we were located above Kokomo Lithograph which was another printing company.
So the business started in that building the 101 East Broadway. The building is still there. And [we] moved here [107 W Markland Ave] in 1967.
Michael Shearer
Wasn't there a short amount of time?...
Brian Shearer
Oh crap, I completely forgot about that business.
Michael Shearer
Yeah.
Brian Shearer
Okay.
Michael Shearer
Back up...[Laughter]
Drew Reed
So, did you block that out of your memory? [Laughter] Wipe that one out?
Brian Shearer
Oh, I remember. I was too young to have any part in that.
Yeah, but it was, it was not a good move. We branched out, it was another branch out. But we actually started the office equipment and furniture. Because I really think that...when we moved into this place [107 W Markland], and I remember them helping them move and stuff. And it was before the other part of the building. And I mean, there was just this vast empty space in here.
And I think they had the space to do that. And I think the other thing is that my uncle started with the company in 1965. And I think I think he was probably more the one behind the branching out or the diversification, and I think that they had the space to do it when they were looking to diversify a little bit.
Drew Reed
So did furniture and machines kind of go together?...
Brian Shearer
No, no...The office equipment...and I actually think that that the main reason they started selling that is just because of some sales guy they got along with from Olivetti Typewriter Company [who had] come in basically off the street and sold them 100 typewriters. Yeah. Because I remember being in here we had 100 typewriters to start with.
And then I think we finally got rid of all of those. And then he sold them 40 copy machines all in one lot. Yeah, but my dad and my uncle got to go to Italy over that one. So then we had 40, copy machines stacked back here, probably three or four years.
Drew Reed
And memories of Italy [Laughter]
Brian Shearer
Probably plenty of memories of Italy.
So we were basically in the office equipment, business. And then...
I don't remember exactly when, but we were in that for quite a while...it was actually office supplies.
Drew Reed
Yeah, okay, yeah.
Brian Shearer
We sold office supplies and this was well before Staples and Office Max and Office Depot. And all of those places, those are the ones that really run most of the office supply places out of business because they were kind of like printers, there was one on every corner selling office supplies. And the furniture basically, stemmed from the office supplies, because there was always office furniture in the office supply catalogs.
...so we did the office supplies for probably about 15 or 20 years, and then the mega-companies came in and kind of sucked up all of that business.
And in most of those places, you know, you could get a desk or you could get a chair for a good price, but they didn't offer any of the personalized services as far as installation or putting stuff together or, or, you know, delivery or space planning or any of those things. So we don't the office supplies but kept the furniture at that point.
Drew Reed
So then, the Konica thing, when did that happen?
Brian Shearer
[Thinking] We were an Olivetti dealer.
I think it was like 19...70...nah...it was probably really early.
We sold the Olivetties, then we went with Savin. I want to say like...we were with Savon long term, then we've picked up Konica Minolta. We were actually a Xerox dealer for a short period of time.
I think it might have been like 94 is when we started with Konica Minolta. At that point, the time it was just Konica.
Drew Reed
When did it turn into this [full-service printing, mailing, and bindery]?
Brian Shearer
It just kind of happened over a period of time. I mean, we were busting at the seams with equipment in here. You could hardly walk around in this place it was so packed. We actually had the mailing...We had the service department in the back where they put the Nexpress...We actually had a dark room and a big camera that ran down the wall...[The] camera was probably 30 feet long.
[Brian talks about the printing process and how it has changed...which we'll cover in another interview]
...Well, yeah, printing has really changed. It's changed more in the last 30 years than it has in the previous hundreds of years.
But my main focus was always on the machine side of things until Mike [Osborne] came, that wasn't much after I was here because he's only four years less than me or something like that. But then I moved more to a management role.
I was responsible for the office supplies and office furniture.
Drew Reed
[To Michael] tell me a little bit more of your story.
Michael Shearer
Well, I mean, I really came in right after college and just jumped right into machine sales.
Drew Reed
So was the goal for you always to jump in here and become a part-owner?
Michael Shearer
I always wanted to. I knew I always wanted to join the family business.
2006 was a weird [year]...coming into that timeframe...jobs, they weren't scarce, but there wasn't a ton of them... And I looked elsewhere after college, but as I said, I knew I was going to eventually be here. And so I just decided — why to wait — and decided to start.
Drew Reed
Well, one of my favorite things up to this point has honestly been when you told me there was a box of stuff upstairs...just [getting to] go through some of the history...because there's not a lot of companies anymore that have been around as long as [Shearer]. You know, we live in this heavily entrepreneurial driven society where everybody wants to start a thing...they're around for a few years...but it's really cool, especially in this day and age, to see a company that's had a tenure like this, and that's why we wanted to tell the story...and then we're already kind of talking about some stuff we want to do for the 85th which is a big deal...
Brian Shearer
It is?
Drew Reed
Yeah!
Brian Shearer
You mean I have to do this again? [Laughter]
Drew Reed
So, Michael, you don't have to answer this question, because your kids are still super little...you got a little fifth-generation Shearer running around at the house?
Michael Shearer
I mean, I'm going to tell my kids what my dad told me — there's zero pressure whatsoever. We'd be happy to have you, but if you choose different paths, I mean, I never felt any pressure to come here, I just always knew I wanted to come here.
Now, as I said, I'd be happy with whatever they do. Whether it's here whether or it's somewhere else.
Drew Reed
What's your best memory, Brian, of being here [Shearer]?
I used to really enjoy...it still feels like family [now], but it really felt like family way back in the day. We'd get together and we'd have picnics and do some community things. But it just...I don't know. It just got to the point where nobody was participating anymore. We just kind of...
Michael Shearer
[To Brian] We went to Indiana Beach every year.
Brian Shearer
We didn't go every year. Well...we went to Thunder Island. [To Michael] You don't remember Thunder Island?
Michael Shearer
I remember Thunder Island.
Brian Shearer
You probably couldn't ride go-karts. You weren't old enough.
Brian Shearer
And I think we, I don't know...we did a lot of different things. The Christmas parties that weren't here [in the building at Shearer]...
It was fun. It was fun. But people just got so much going on now.
Drew Reed
I understand, but that's a shame.
Brian Shearer
It's just a generational thing. My wife and I were talking about that. We went to a birthday party last Sunday afternoon for a couple that both turned 90 years old and the [number] of people that were there.
It is what it is. And times change.
Drew Reed
This is off script, but…supposedly [we’re] more connected as a society because digital helps us connect...
Brian Shearer
...Yeah yeah it's connected digitally, but I mean, people have lost being around each other…nobody's around each other anymore. And no, you can't blame that on COVID. I mean, it's been that way, well, before that.
Drew Reed
That obviously, has effected work culture.
Brian Shearer
It has.
Drew Reed
We're with people that we work with more than we're with our family.
Brian Shearer
You're exactly right.
Drew Reed
For the love of God, you should enjoy and love the people that you work with like they're family.
…there are intangible things like…that sometimes lead to overall happiness, so much more than making a few more $1,000 a year does.
I find that here [Shearer]…maybe some of that is ghosts from the past…
Brian Shearer
Most people don't know the kind of responsibility I deal with personally. I care about everyone that works here, and I worry about everyone that works here. And I want to make sure that we're [the owners] here to support, that's huge to me.
Drew Reed
We feel that.
(To Micahel) Your favorite memory?
Michael Shearer
That's a tough one. I mean there are several things that I can answer. I mean, I enjoy going out and meeting new customers and building relationships with them. Seeing them around town.
I certainly enjoy working with my dad, you know, not many people can say that.
My love for this place started young. Just when we were up here my brother and I running around...
Michael Shearer
[Talking about being around after hours] That's when we got Cokes…that's when we got our snacks out of the snack bin and our candy out of the candy jar upfront.
Brian Shearer
A lot of stuff I probably didn't know about.
Michael Shearer
A lot of my memories started young.
Drew Reed
Stuff like that is really precious. We remember it forever and that's important.
So talk big picture…What do you see for the future of the company?
Brian Shearer
Wish I had a crystal ball.
Drew Reed
Don't we all? But, what would you like it to be?
Brian Shearer
It has changed over the years. And will printing go away? Probably not.
That's a question you're gonna have to ask these two guys [Michael & Clay]...but I think we are trying very hard to find a place. And I think with the digital [marketing], I think that's trying to find a place. So, I mean, it's just a constant [adjustment]. I don't think I could sit here today and tell you what's gonna happen in five years or ten years, but we're gonna continue to try to morph the business, into what it needs to be. Whatever that may be.
Michael Shearer
It's not like insurance or car sales. With technology, in the arenas, we're in — printing, office equipment…it changes daily. We have to evolve with the technology that's out there and make sure we put ourselves in the right position.
Drew Reed
When you hired me, we all said we’d have to build this as we fly it, but what I feel about the company’s culture in general is that’s kind of our mantra — we’ll build it as we fly it.
Brian Shearer
Yeah...[laughter]
Drew Reed
...but a lot of companies die because they never adapt. And times change...that’s been the theme during this whole interview — times change. A lot has changed in 84 years.
Brian Shearer
It has...it really has.
Drew Reed
We’ll keep building as we go.