Page 28 - The Peorian Vol 3 Issue 1 Winter

28 thePeorian.com
AND THE WINNER IS …
Academy of Awards evolving, growing
By Paul Gordon
Specialty Retail: Awards
T here was a time when you
could walk into just about
any house in America and
spot on a shelf or mantle some
kind of trophy, be it from bowl-
ing superiority to Little League
participation to vocal perfor-
mance and anything in between.
On the wall there was likely a
plaque or two or three honoring
a family member for something
or perhaps commemorating an
event.
Times have changed as
trophies don’t carry the same
sentimental value and plaques,
while still more in abundance,
aren’t presented as often or have
gotten smaller.
That has forced companies and
retailers like Academy of Screen-
printing & Awards to evolve to
survive, that evolution usually
involving finding new kinds of
business that few others did.
“Even the name has changed to
reflect how we’ve changed,” said
Debbie Hallar, second generation
owner of the shop on War Memo-
rial Drive, just off the intersec-
tion with Prospect Road, next to
Emo’s.
Indeed, it was originally called
Academy of Awards, a play on
words around the most famous
of awards, when her parents
Wilbur and Dee Hoop started the
business in 1977. “There’s just no
money in trophies any more. My
dad thought nothing would ever
outdo trophies and plaques in
this business but that hasn’t been
the case,” she said.
Schools don’t spend the money
on trophies as they once did,
largely because of budget cuts,
and the bowling leagues have
dwindled, the trophy business
with them. “Young people aren’t
getting into bowling leagues
and the older guys would rather
have prize money than another
trophy,” Debbie said.
Added her husband Mike, who
co-owns the store with her, “Like
with anything else, we’ve seen a
cultural shift. It’s a shame I’m old
enough to say I’ve seen things go
away, then come back,” laughed
Mike, 51. “But eventually, every-
thing cycles back. I don’t know if
trophies will or not,” he added,
nodding to the relatively small
corner of the store where trophy
choices are displayed.
“The reason we still do tro-
phies is because we want our
customers to know we can do
everything for your event; from
trophies to medals to shirts even
to directional signs,” he said.
Screenprinting has become the
biggest part of the business since
it started in 1980 and, along with
embroidery added a decade later,
represents the future.
Mike and Debbie are especially
proud of the screenprinting part
of the business because when
they saw it was going to be a big
part of the future they did what
they had to do to grow it. That
included making the equipment
to do screenprinting rather than
spending the money to purchase
equipment like presses and color
transferring machines.
Once the mainstay part of the business at Academy of Screenprinting and Awards in Peoria, the available
trophies are now found in one corner of the store on War Memorial Drive, just east of Prospect Avenue.