Industry Profile: Roanoke Custom Products
Roanoke Custom Products began as two businesses which were merged in 1958. Roanoke Stamp & Seal was started in 1917 while Freeman & Freeman Manufacturing began in 1943. The Freeman shop found themselves purchasing many stamps to support their belt and button business. A brief negotiation with Roanoke Stamp led the Freemans to begin making their own stamps which expanded their business enough to combine forces with a new manager. This led to Freeman & Via Stamp Company in 1954. Four years later they purchased Roanoke Stamp & Seal and merged their energy and knowledge under the more established business name.
The business continued to grow out of available space and settled into the current location in 1980 with an initial 6,000 square feet facility. The building has been expanded twice to it's current 18,000 feet consisting of design, assembly, manufacturing and custom fabrications.
The Freeman family have been actively involved with the marking industry throughout the course of the business gaining a reputation for knowledge and insight. This understanding of the industry led Roanoke Stamp to an early distribution relationship with Xstamper in the mid 1970s. The addition of on-site laser engraving allowed Roanoke Stamp to step into the role as a manufacturing partner with Xstamper offering a catalog of customized, pre-inked stamps with design, assembly and shipping under one roof in the Roanoke facility.
With the additions, modernized equipment and addition of custom signs and badges to the expanded stamp products, Roanoke Stamp & Seal changed to Roanoke Custom Products in 2017 to reflect the expanded business inventory. The name change coincided with the 100 year anniversary while looking to future growth in customized products.
As Roanoke Custom Products, Greg and Frank Freeman are looking well into the future with laser technology, computer graphic design, lean principles of manufacturing and skilled personal working together to uphold the customer service that led Roanoke Stamp & Seal into the 21st century.
