Name of business: Lighthouse Creates Inc.

Type of business: Marketing support solutions

Location: 730 E. Main St., Turlock

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday

Contact information: 209-648-7327

Specialty: Signs, flags, banners, window graphics, car wraps and more

History of business:

Turlock residents Dennis and Linda Buie have owned and operated Lighthouse Creates Inc. since 2008, providing marketing products for local business owners and entrepreneurs from the comfort of their own home. Their success over the years recently led them to open their company’s first-ever brick and mortar storefront in downtown Turlock.

“We started out of our house, but it got to the point where we had multiple employees and a lot more business,” Linda said. “So, we needed more space.”

Now, the Buies run Lighthouse Creates Inc. just two blocks away from their home, rather from inside their home. The location, which sits right on the corner of East Main Street and North Minaret Avenue, has formerly housed multiple salons and even a small, private elementary school, but will now help Turlock residents promote their small businesses in an exciting way.

Dennis has been involved in the print industry since his 20s, he said, which has allowed Lighthouse Inc. to focus on expanding their efforts into other aspects of marketing, like art for restaurants and other promotional materials.

From small items like brochures, business cards, refrigerator magnets and door hangers to larger products such as event tents, flags, A frames and banners, Lighthouse Creates Inc. handles everything when it comes to a business’ promotions, from designing the graphics and layout of a product to printing the items right in their own shop.

“The idea is that people don’t have to go to 10 different places to get all of the things they need,” Dennis said. “They can coordinate through us, and we can provide them with a lot of experience, along with the best way to do it and make it work.”

When searching for a location for their shop’s first storefront, Dennis and Linda said they didn’t know how beneficial owning a downtown location would be for their business — at first. Since they began working on the location in November, the area has been nothing but welcoming.

“We love having that connection to downtown and having so many people around. We didn’t realize how important the location and being that close to downtown would be for us, and now that we have it, we really like it,” Linda said. “This is a central location with easy parking where people can come and pick up their jobs. We have our house back, too, which is nice.”

A theme central to Lighthouse Creates Inc. is trust, Dennis said.

“I want to give them the best value, where they know we’re going to go in and we’re going to be particular and make the best product we can produce.”