Qais Arabo is #MadeForKnoxville.

Qais turned his employee position at a small hat kiosk in West Town Mall into an entrepreneurial venture. He dove head first into his future as a businessman with virtually no knowledge on how to go about it. 

Since then, Qais has turned Classic Print Company into a Knoxville gem. When he’s not creating custom products, he’s finding ways to give back to the local community. Qais is proof that Knoxville is the Maker City, and that with the right mindset anything is possible. 

“You don’t have to have a big storefront to do big things, you just need the right people to make big things happen and that’s who we are at Classic Print Company.”

In Their Own Words..

My story starts about 18 to 20 years ago when I moved to Knoxville from San Diego and started working for a privately owned business at West Town Mall managing a Custom Hat kiosk way before Lids was even thought of. After managing the small 82 sqft. high rent space with Simon properties I soon took over the business and grew it from there. No formal training, no investors, no knowledge of how to run a business and I dove right in.  

I’ve been through some hard times and some good times, all of which have been learning moments for me. I have had the opportunity to work with some A List clients and with local business owners, which in the end we treat everyone the same. Some of our clients have been John Mayer, Barneys of NY, Dick Cheney, Wolf Blitzer and many more that I can’t think of right now. 

My goal or passion had always been to give back to the community, I have a big heart for kids and so In the past I have tried to help local schools as much as we can. Whether it be groups or organizations at UTK or elementary schools we have supported them for so many years. 

I like to think of our shop as that little hidden gem in Knoxville, some know about us and many don’t. You don’t have to have a big storefront to do big things, you just need the right people to make big things happen and that’s who we are at Classic Print Company.

 

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