A SIGN OF THE TIMES Thorough Graphics prepares to celebrate 40 years as a locally owned business. by Kate Savage | photos courtesy Thorough Graphics “Being in the right place at the right time and going with a good thing when you’ve got it going” has had a lot to do with the business success story of Thorough Graphics and husband and wife owners, John and Ann Cox. John worked his way through college at a local Lexington sign company. In 1982, with that experience and his BA from the UK College of Fine Arts under his belt, he struck out on his own and started Thorough Graphics at the age of 23. He married Ann a year later and – after meeting with a marriage counselor to discuss the pros and cons of working together – they became business partners as well. “We still absolutely make decisions together. It wouldn’t work if we didn’t,” said John. “Compromise is the key.” The now-closed sign company where John worked while
in college specialized in signage for the horse industry. This became his ongoing focus with Thorough Graphics and provided a unique market niche that has since allowed him to cater to a local industry with a built-in constant and recurring demand. John’s mother and brother worked for Blood-Horse Magazine, so they were connected to the thoroughbred industry. But it was a phone call from the editor of BloodHorse while John and Ann were on honeymoon that was to decide their business direction moving forward. This pivotal call resulted in an order to make plaques for every horse, jockey and trainer ever inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs; to this day, this is a standing order they continue to fulfill – over 900 plaques later.
TOPSinLex.com | April 2022
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