A History of Ellen’s
Ellen’s Silkscreening is a medium sized apparel printing and embroidery company based in South Pasadena, California. We regularly handle printed and embroidered orders of between 24 and 5,000 units in-house on a 7-10 working day turnaround. Our knowledgeable sales team also sources out printed promotional product orders to a large network of vendors on a daily basis.
silkscreening, silk screen, screen printing, embroidery, embroider, applique, promotional products, drinkware, notebooks, flash drives, pens, pencils, banners, bottle openers, lanyards, balloons, keychain fobs, flash lights, sunglasses, T-Shirts, Sweatshirts, Polos, Knits, Layering, Fleece, Woven Shirts, Outerwear, Pants, Shorts, Infants and Toddlers, Headwear, Bags, Accesories,
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A very happy story
Ellen Saland came to Los Angeles from her native New York in 1960. She attended nursing school in Los Angeles in the early ‘60s and began her working career as a nurse. Not longer after, Ellen married and started a family.
Ellen quickly found that she loved running a business and that she was a natural salesperson.
In 1977, a divorced single mom of three daughters, Ellen took a screen printing class as part of a sign painting course at Pasadena City College. A year later she started Ellen’s Silkscreening out of her garage. Her goal was to have a career that would allow her to spend more time with her girls. Initially, Ellen did all the printing herself, with some assistance from a classmate at PCC, Pietro Palladini, and her daughters Raquel, Diana, and Angie. In the early days a big source of inspiration was her friend Mary Micucci, who was also starting her catering company Along Came Mary at that time.
Ellen quickly found that she loved running a business and that she was a natural salesperson. Her business grew steadily. Soon she was able to move the shop out of her garage to a building located at 816 Mound Avenue in South Pasadena (the back of the current shop).
A very important early customer for Ellen’s Silkscreening in the late 1970s was Robert Tanowitz of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. As Robert moved up in his career at Rec and Parks, he frequently referred shirt orders to Ellen’s Silkscreening and eventually the Department became one of Ellen’s largest customers. Another important early customer was KRLA radio station, where Ellen met her future husband Joe Daigle. Eventually, Joe became Ellen’s business partner and he played a key role setting up the production systems at the shop that remain in place to this day.
She is also profoundly grateful for the incredible trust and loyalty of the many customers who have frequented the shop since 1978.
The 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles led to a huge local surge in demand for printed apparel. That year, Ellen’s Silkscreening printed many apparel orders commemorating the Games and was transformed from being a small neighborhood shop to a medium sized shop pumping out many orders every day for customers across the city.
Over the years the shop has continued to grow and thrive, adding in-house embroidery services in the late 1990s and expanding into its current location at 1500 Mission Street in 2003.
Ellen attributes the success of her company to the hard work and dedication of her wonderful employees. She is also profoundly grateful for the incredible trust and loyalty of the many customers who have frequented the shop since 1978.
The turnaround was on schedule, easy to get a hold of when you have a question, knowledgeable staff, good quality work.
- Isaac A.5 Stars
I highly recommend Ellen's for all your silkscreening needs.
- Mark G.5 Stars
Ann Marie [my sales rep] was incredibly helpful and patient in answering all my questions. I even got a phone call from the owner after picking up the shirts thanking me for my business!
- Mark G.5 Stars
…the folks at Ellen's came to the rescue and helped me get the most attractive shirts at the best value.
- Mark G.5 Stars
Quality and quick turn around on orders! Will certainly use their services again.
- Luisa J.5 Stars
Prompt and friendly service! Our students were so happy with their t-shirts and hoodies.
- Luisa J.5 Stars
I look forward to working with Jan [my sales rep] and Ellen's Silkscreening in the very near future. Five stars!
- Regina N.5 stars
In less than one hour, I was sent two PDFs with quotes for both of them [t-shirts]. Incredible service.
- Regina N.5 stars
Following a big smile and firm handshake, Jan [my sales rep] walked me through Ellen's process of silkscreened t shirts (I'm new to all of this!)… I probably asked Jan about a million questions, and he had a quick and informative answer to every single one.
- Regina N.5 stars
This was a great year and we so appreciate the expertise, service and beautiful quality work we always receive from you and Ellen's entire staff.
- Terri ColpoPasadena Heritage Volunteer
...Ellen's offered the best price for what my boss had me looking for so we decided to give them a try. Definitely worth it will be using them again for future orders.
- Joseph L.5 Stars
Friendly service, fast production, competitive prices; more importantly, quality work. That's what you will get from this company.
- Joseph L.5 Stars
I just want to let you and Ellen know that this year’s shirt for the Celebration on the Colorado Street Bridge was a big success and a big seller!
- Terri ColpoPasadena Heritage Volunteer
I was thoroughly satisfied with Ellen's help and support to get these t-shirts made on time and exactly as we had discussed. I highly recommend Ellen's Silkscreening.
- Sean W.5 Stars
I was met with warm interest in my project, feasible options in how to get it done and a great timetable as well as reassurance on how this could be done, and done well.
- Sean W.5 Stars
Their work was of the best quality, priced fairly and was completed on time. To top it all off, Ellen followed up by leaving the nicest voicemail for me. I will definitely be back.
- Ry K.5 Stars
…the experience really couldn't have been any better. Ann Marie [our sales rep] was an absolute joy to work with; she was always friendly, responsive and creative.
- Ry K.5 Stars
For shirts, hats, other promo items for school, church, bar or bat mitzvah – they are great!
- Jennifer G.5 Stars
I was so happy in the end that we did not end up ordering on line from some company in another part of the country and I was happy were able to support a local family business in our neighborhood.
- Jennifer G.5 Stars
The price was awesome, and the people who work at Ellen's could not be any nicer to deal with.
- Jennifer G.5 Stars
They worked with us on cost and our budget (LAUSD is so tight!!). The shirts came out PERFECT.
- Jennifer G.5 Stars
They were able to get us great 100% cotton tshirts - in all the sizes we need - with gorgeous screening in just one day.
- Jennifer G.5 Stars
I recommend Ellen's to everyone! Howard [manager of Ellen's] and his team are the greatest!!!
- Jennifer G.5 Stars
The staff is super helpful and accommodating. Highly recommend, all the way around!
- Bonny A.5 Stars
I am so happy with the items I have received from Ellen's Silkscreening…They all have been great quality items and the printing has been perfect. I cannot be more thrilled!
- Bonny A.5 Stars
They are excellent at what they do and the staff is great! They are courteous, knowledgeable and very accommodating.
- Robyn M.5 Stars
I own a small business and would highly recommend them to anyone.
- Robyn M.5 Stars
We received a lot of compliments on this particular event; a huge part was due to how easy Ellen's made it! I will continue to use them for all my promotional product and t-shirt needs!
- Leilani S.5 Stars
They were able to print beautiful glossy folders for us at literally almost half the cost of what I had been looking at elsewhere online, and the design was consistent with the t-shirts.
- Leilani S.5 Stars
Not only did they work closely with me on each step in the design process, they recommended the best type of printing (heat transfer) for this particularly detailed design - it came out fabulous.
- Leilani S.5 Stars
Even with very short notice, they have given excellent attention to detail in printing shirts that we needed sometimes less than a week out.
- Leilani S.5 Stars
The quality and pricing were great! Support local, go Ellen's!
- Melea F.5 Stars
The order was completed ahead of time and everything looks fabulous. Thanks for the great job and I'll definitely come back for future orders.
- E. Todd S.5 Stars
It was great to be able to feel and try on the shirts prior to choosing which ones would be best for our order.
- E. Todd S.5 Stars
I had a great experience with the employees who were very helpful in providing multiple choices of shirts and colors that might work for the screen prints I was looking to do.
- E. Todd S.5 Stars
… I like the human advertising season after season on well worn lovable products from Ellen's.
- Jennie C.5 Stars
…I like supporting local businesses that give back to the community in big ways.
- Jennie C.5 Stars
Last year I got all my staff rain jackets for Christmas, and they LOVED them. And they were flattering and stylish too.
- Jennie C.5 Stars
The staff has always guided me through the process, they keep a file of all my screens and have great suggestions on products.
- Jennie C.5 Stars
It's a great place to do business.
- Jennie C.5 Stars
I was completely satisfied with their service, expertise, and print quality.
- Matthew C.5 Stars
The finished product exceeded my expectations. Not only that, they finished a huge order in just a few days notice.
- Matthew C.5 Stars
Howard [manager of Ellen's] took care of me the whole way, going over every detail until I received my shirts. He was great! Very professional and thorough.
- Matthew C.5 Stars
She [Ellen] and her staff have always been knowledgeable and helpful with all of our orders. Ellen is a fine businesswoman and a pillar of the community.
- Nancy L.5 Stars
They [appliqué garments] were such a hit that we will continue to order more for our VIP customers! This could not have worked out better!
- John N.5 Stars
Worked with us on the pricing so we were also able to have our current logo screened onto the garments as well.
- John N.5 Stars
Very easy to reach with questions and they had suggestions that worked out great.
- John N.5 Stars
I will continue to work with Ellen's in the future. Definitely recommend.
- Isaac A.5 Stars
The professional step by step process made it easy on me since this was my first time getting screen print services.
- Isaac A.5 Stars
It's a very nice and clean shop, so I thought it would be expensive. Nope. Not at all. In fact, Ellen's rates were much lower than some rinky-dink shops that I had been quoted by.
- Isaac A.5 Stars
