When Rick Ruffner founded greeting card company
Avanti Press in 1980, the naysayers came from all corners. They told him Detroit was a bad idea, that photography and greeting cards didn't mix and that dogs wouldn't sell.
Almost 30 years later, it's clear that something worked right: Avanti cards, distinctive for their full-color photographs (many of dogs, natch) and humorous messages, can be found in 20,000 retail outlets in North America alone, in all 50 states and nearly 25 countries.
The company shuffled around a few downtown offices before settling into its current location in the Murphy-Telegraph Building on Congress in 2000. Avanti occupies the entire second floor -- Ruffner cites the bright, open floor plan designed by
Gensler as a big selling point for employees, both current and prospective. "It's been a been a great place to recruit people, and Detroit is full of talent," he says. "(A lot of our people) really like being downtown."
Avanti employs 50 downtown, and also operates a distribution and storage facility in Taylor and creative offices in New York City and the United Kingdom.
Check out Avanti's work on the ground floor exterior of their offices, located at 155 W. Congress. Call 800-228-2684.
Source: Rick Ruffner, Avanti Press
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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