An artistic eye, passion and hard work turned Printorium Apparel from an idea shared over coffee at Union Coffee Company in Milford into a successful two-man business.
High school friends Ian Ferro and Matt Hannon, both from Nashua, now produce printed and embroidered apparel in their screen-printing shop in the mill on Wilton’s Riverside Way.
With more than 40 years of combined experience, the pair sold their first prints as a company in August 2024.
They said their screen-printing process separates their work from other shops because most companies now use inkjet printers. The screen-printing process takes longer, but produces a better quality product, according to Ferro.
The duo also provide designs for contractors, businesses and residents across the Monadnock region. While Ferro and Hannon design most of their prints, they also welcome customers’ designs.
“We mostly do bulk orders through brokered contract work, but we also do direct-to-consumer business as well,” Ferro said.
He doesn’t claim to be an artist, but said he has an eye for creative input.
“People come to us with ideas but don’t know what looks good, so we help improve it,” he said. “I enjoy the design aspect and helping customers build their brands.”
They also sell their wares at events throughout the year, with Milford’s annual Pumpkin Festival their biggest.
Their Halloween and horror film-inspired designs were hits at recent festivals, including one with a jack-o’-lantern depicting Jason Voorhees’ hockey mask from the “Friday the 13th” franchise.
“At the 2025 festival, we sold out of that design multiple times over the weekend,” Hannon said.
“We would go back to the shop at night and print out more just to meet demand,” said Ferro. By the end of the festival, they had sold more than 300 hockey mask prints.
The friends were also proud of their “Casper the Friendly Ghost” and “Mars Attacks!” prints.
“I made the ‘Mars Attacks!’ print as a side thing to help a friend at the 2021 festival,” Ferro said. He sold about 150 of the shirts at the event.
Printorium has covered other events, including a live screen printing gig for Red Bull Cliff Diving, a charity event hosted by Cars N’ Copters at Marshfield Fairgrounds in Massachusetts, as well as Wolfsgart WagenFest in New York.
Their friendship dates back to 2006 when they took the same high school graphic design class.
“I had an interest in graphic design while Ian was into printing,” Hannon said. “I was a bit of an art nerd and took Art 4, which was just below the Advanced Placement course.”
Hannon took a liking to Adobe Photoshop his sophomore year and brought the application home where he developed his skills using it in his spare time.
“Eventually, I graduated from SNHU with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and went on to work for Nashua Telegraph and CleverLight Media,” he said.
“I started making money screen printing while still in school,” Ferro said. “I’d work part-time during the school year and then full-time over the summer.”
After graduating high school, Ferro skipped college and went to work as a press operator.
“I was at M&N Sports for about three years, then worked at Phoenix in Nashua for another three years,” he said, adding that he worked for a small embroidery shop before spending 11 years at Red Brick Clothing in Manchester.
Between 2013 and 2024, Ferro went from press operator to production manager at Red Brick.
After COVID restrictions loosened, both friends decided they were ready for something new. One day in May 2024, they met up in Milford’s Union Coffee Company and laid the groundwork for the venture.
Ferro and Hannon each have their vision for the company’s future and hope to assume administrative and managerial roles while passing on their knowledge to younger generations.
“It would be cool to get employees and teach them our trade,” Hannon said.
“We’d like to continue growing,” Ferro added. “Ideally we’d own the building we’re in, have five to six printers, 20 to 24 embroiderers and 18 to 20 employees.”