Our Story
Our family-owned company has served the Carolinas for 45 years, emerging as a premier print, signage and mail partner with clients nationwide.
The Early Years
Our print story begins in 1981 when newly-wed bank executive, Judy Montcastle, and Army veteran, John Montcastle embarked on a new enterprise. At a time when office copiers were still a rarity, they brought Instant-Print to downtown Asheville, NC. Using the latest quick-capture technology, they produced black and white documents while people waited.
As demand grew so did their business. It was not long before John and Judy invested in their first color offset press which was to become the mainstay and passion of our family business. Embracing the new level of expertise required for traditional print, they left the franchise behind, becoming incorporated as Advantage Printing in 1992.
Next Generation
Always at the forefront of technology, Advantage Printing launched direct mail services and were among the first US printers to employ Computer-to-Plate practices in 1996, eliminating the need for darkroom film processing.
Over the next two decades Advantage Printing flourished to become one of the most trusted and capable commercial printers in the region. With the next generation of Montcastles joining the workforce, we continued to grow our team and in-house capabilities, eventually earning the distinction of being an Ideallance G7 Master Facility in 2019. During this time we moved to a larger 10,000 sq ft premises in Arden and upgraded our services to include to bigger presses, adding a wide-format flatbed, roll print signage, high speed digital color and full-scale bindery equipment.
Moving Forward
We are now known as Advantage Direct, reflecting our progress and leadership in the next generation as we continue to develop our services to align with the ever-changing digital landscape and stay ahead of industry demands.
Throughout our journey, we have cultivated a professional team of up to 20 experts and cutting-edge technology that sets us apart from our competition. We recently upgraded all our presses and introduced hi-speed routing and integrated web storefronts to our services. This has let us expand into broader markets and assist our customers to do the same.
We are also avid supporters of our community. Like our business, we take a hands-on approach, and we look forward to future decades of working together.
Since 1981
