Heritage Printing Service is one of the oldest family-owned commercial printing businesses in Richmond. Originally named Quick Printing Company, it was established in 1946 by William S. Miles, Sr., in a small building on Hull Street in South Richmond. His son, William “Sam” Miles, Jr., joined the family business after World War II when he was discharged from the Navy. The father-son team worked together for only five years before the elder’s untimely death in 1952.
In those early years, long days were typical for Sam Miles, who often returned to work after dinner bringing his young son Bill with him. Not surprisingly, by the time Bill reached his teens, he knew how to operate every piece of equipment in the building. The company’s name was changed to Heritage Printing Service in the ’70s to distinguish their offset-printing business from the myriad of copying companies that had sprouted in Richmond during that period.
In 1991, Sam retired to the river turning the business over to his enterprising son Bill, who possessed keen business instincts. Under Bill’s leadership, Heritage Printing Service built a reputation as a state-of-the-art printing operation, utilizing the latest Heidelberg technology. In December 2003, Bill moved the business to a custom-built, 18,000-square-foot building on Decatur Street, just off Hull Street. Ironically, the new location backs up to the small building that was once home to Bill’s grandfather’s Quick Printing Company.
Sadly, Bill succumbed to lung cancer in 2010, but not before passing the family legacy to his capable daughter Lindsay, who joined Heritage Printing Service in 2008 after graduating from Chowan University. “I guess you could say printing is in our blood,” says Lindsay Miles proudly.