Still family-owned and operated, The Mines Press, founded by Samuel Mines in 1933, has grown from a small store in Manhattan with three employees to a modern facility with a staff of over 100. Its 110,000-square-foot print shop in Cortlandt Manor accommodates office staff; graphic designing, production, warehousing, shipping department and its mailing list and direct mail services all under one roof.
The Westfair Business Journal recently caught up with the founder’s grandson and company President Steven Mines, who told us about his enterprising forebears and how his father’s brother, Martin Mines, was an extraordinary marketing talent who discovered the wonders of direct mail.
By 1960, The Mines Press was the predominant supplier of printed forms for the independent insurance market, and still serves more than 15,000 independent insurance agents and 20,000 accounting firms, according to Steven Mines.
He went on to tell the Journal that the company’s best-selling product is its pocket folders, which it manufactures in both standard and expandable versions. He said the company sold millions throughout the country and added that that it also specialized in direct mail marketing and fundraising, particularly for the non-profit market.
Another key product is lenticular printing, which involves printing on the back of a lens material to create designs that include animation and 3D effects. This technology is used to create post cards, trade show badges, stickers, magnets, and large-format posters.
Asked how printing needs had changed over the years, Mines explained how the rise of the internet and smartphones had “effectively destroyed” the forms-printing business. Thus, the company, he said, had spent the last 20 years reinventing itself in order to replace what was once its “heart and soul.”
Entry into the lenticular printing market and investment in the equipment and software to be market leaders in direct mail fund-raising have been key new areas, Mines said. The company’s new lifestyle brand, Iscream – run by Mines’ sister Jennifer Mines Kamen – has allowed the company to grow and prosper in spite of the loss of the valuable forms business.
Mines is full of praise for Westchester County as well as the Town of Cortlandt, both of whom he said were a pleasure to work with. He mentioned that The Mines Press had recently become active on the Westchester Business Council and that to date it has been a very positive experience. Through it, he said, he had met new clients for Mines’ direct mail fundraising division, and also found a number of “excellent” professionals to help navigate various business challenges.
As a company known for its social awareness and responsibility, Steven Mines was equally upbeat about The Arc Westchester (the Hawthorne, New York-based nonprofit that helps empower children, teens and adults with intellectual and learning difficulties,) whom he “couldn’t say enough good things about.”
(When the Journal spoke with the Arc, of whose upcoming annual “Matter of Taste” event the Mines Press is a longtime supporter, it was clear that the feelings were entirely mutual.)
Mines stressed how important the relationship had been to his company.
“We could never have managed to bring the two staff (members) with developmental disabilities we employ to the level of confidence they now have without the leadership and dedication of the Arc Westchester’s job coaches,” he said. “The collective effort by the rest of our staff to help these two individuals succeed on a day-to-day basis is one of the things that perpetuates the ‘family business’ culture that is so important to Jennifer and myself. We simply could never have accomplished it without The Arc Westchester.”
One interesting recent development for the printing business has come about through the federal government’s cuts to non-profit budgets. Mines explained that this has created a need for more grassroots fund-raising, which in turn had led to an increase in interest from several local clients looking to fill the funding gap. As a result, he said, the company planned on investing in additional equipment to increase capacity for the direct mail segment of its operation.
Added to The Mines Press’ impressive roster of printing services, Steven Mines shared that the company would also be launching a direct-to-consumer lenticular photo product during Q3 of 2025.
And when asked about any unusual or interesting projects the Mines Press had recently undertaken, he said with evident pride, “We just took an order for a giant animated lenticular poster of Shohei Ohtani that will hang in The Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Now, that’s what you call a poster boy
