Pittsburgh's Entrepreneurial Power: CSDI
Sometime new business are built on careful planning
and market research; sometimes they grow out
of circumstance and necessity but become successful
nonetheless. Let’s take a look at one such
success story in Pittsburgh.
CSDI
Note:
Since this article was first written, CSDI has
expanded its capabilities once again. Visit
their new website
to learn about their latest innovation- high-tech
laser etching, which turns ordinary clothing, stone,
glass, marble, metal, and more into stunning
conversation pieces!
The old adage says: If life hands you lemons, make
lemonade. Well, what do you do if life hands you
fur? If you are Dina Denning, you make a teddy bear
and launch a successful custom embroidery, screen
printing, and promotional products company known as
CSDI (Creative Stitches by Dina, Inc.).
Dina
had always been rather crafty, and in 1997 a friend
had an old fur coat that she didn’t know what to do
with it.
Dina’s creative mind kicked in, and she turned the
old fur coat into a custom, one-of-a-kind teddy
bear. The bear was hit and garnered lots of
attention including that of the local media. Working
out of the basement in her North Huntingdon home,
Dina began to take more orders for custom-crafted
teddy bears.
“After local newsman Dave Crawley did a second story
on Dina at Easter time, she began creating bunnies
for Easter,” said Chuck Denning, Dina’s husband and
co-owner.
Desiring to embellish her teddy bears with custom
embroidery like paw pads, Dina then invested in an
industrial embroidery machine. Local schools began
to contact CSDI for their embroidery needs, and then
Westinghouse Nuclear Division asked that CSDI serve
as a backup for their current marketing promotional
products provider. They eventually became the
division’s primary provider. During the interim,
CSDI acquired multiple industrial embroidery
machines and outgrew four different locations.
CSDI is now located at 11380 Route 30 in North
Huntingdon near Jacktown Hill.
In addition to the custom teddy bears and
embroidery, in 2006, CSDI added digital screen
printing to their line of services. “We also offer
screen printing for those who want to design their
own items. We have clip art, temps, and an open
palette that allow customers to easily create their
own designs,” said Chuck Denning.
As with many small businesses, it soon grew into a
family affair. Three years ago, Chuck joined the
company after losing his job and while he pursued
certification as a personal development coach.
“CSDI is a neat story. We never set out to have a
business, and we had no formal plan. People just
liked what we were doing and things took off from
there,” Chuck said.
For more information about all the products and
services that CSDI offers, call 724-863-4104 or
1-800-264-0379. Visit their main website at
www.csdistore.com,
the design your own product site at
www.csdi4ink.com,
or for promotional novelty products,
www.csdi4promos.com .
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