By Mike McLeod

In southwest England in the region known as Cornwall is the delightful, centuries-old town of Penzance. Heard of Gilbert and Sullivan's play, The Pirates of Penzance? This is its namesake.

Wandering among the narrow streets loaded with shops and dotted with 300-year-old pubs, you might run across Moonshine Framing at 1 High Street. Kev Parkyn is the owner of this unique business that, in addition to quality framing, offers one-hour framing services.

One-hour framing?

"Best thing we ever did!" exclaims Parkyn.

As far as he knows, there are no other framers in Cornwall offering this service. Consequently, it is a great promotional tool, and the word-of-mouth publicity is priceless. "Everyone knows the 'one-hour framer in Penzance,'" Parkyn smiles.

To other shop owners thinking about offering a one-hour framing service, Parkyn cautions that staff must be well trained and kept current on what moulding and mat is in stock. "Most standard jobs (mount, frame in a factory-finished moulding, glass and innards) are easily completed in 10 to 15 minutes anyway. But it is vital that the sales staff know the framing procedures and sticks to realistic specifications."

An added benefit of a one-hour service is the customer usually browses the shop while waiting and picks up an impulse item. "A bit of 'gravy' on the top," is how Parkyn sees it.

To accomplish the one-hour jobs on time, Parkyn employs three framers working in a production cycle rather than each person carrying a project through a production line. One framer handles the mat cutting, another cuts glass and backings, and the person with "the strongest leg" mans the Morso and the underpinner.

"The mat cutter pencils the measurement on the back, then it goes to the framer who cuts a rim to that size, then to the glazier who cuts backing, glass and undermount to size. Whoever is free is the frame assembler/finisher."

With a couple of minutes per stage of operation and five minutes for clean-up and seal, the job is done in an hour or less.

To prevent being inundated with one-hour framing orders, Parkyn adds a surcharge to his unique service. Generally, it is only requested once or twice a day. Yet, his surcharge is amazingly inexpensive.

"Currently, we charge £3 extra (approximately $5), which seems just about right. Customers in urgent need find this quite acceptable. It is often a great sales clincher. How often have you heard, 'I love the picture, but I don't like the frame'? No problem!"

Parkyn relates how one of his customers is a wedding photographer who presents clients with their framed wedding photos at the reception. To do this, the photographer delivers his film from the wedding to a one-hour photolab and calls or text messages frame orders (for standard size frames and mounts) to Moonshine.

"He fetches the photos in and we fit them, seal 'em up, etc., and the bride and groom are presented with them at their wedding party/reception! Wonderful publicity for all concerned."

Moonshine's one-hour service has served Parkyn so well that he has never advertised or had a sale in 10 years in business.

"Our mission in to REDUCE the amount of work we have. It's like trying to get a drink from a fire hose sometimes. In the next town, St. Ives, our main supplier delivers to 42 picture framers! There are eight framers in our town, and every one of us is swamped with work."

Moonshine makes 15,000 framer per year, 30 to 75 per day. Much of this good fortune is due to the location. West Cornwall is famous for the "light" favored by artists' colonies, and several have sprung up in the region.

"This corner of the UK is a place where almost everyone has a paintbox and some brushes. Everyone's home seems to have an original or two on the wall. And we are surrounded by galleries. It is perhaps the only place in the UK where parents actually encourage their kids to go to art college instead of into dentistry or the law."

When Parkyn first started framing, he secured a Larson-Juhl framing manual and applied many of its retail methods, after combining them with British frame-making procedures. "A brilliant mix, everything works perfectly, and the opposition still hasn't figured out why we get all the work in town all the time."

Now the really important question: why did Parkyn name his shop Moonshine Framing? It seems a little out of character with a proper British shop.

Parkyn explains that the first employees he hired were all youngsters who "partied late and thus slept in." To give them a chance to get to work on time, he opened late and worked late.

"Incredibly, it worked! We will frequently work 24/7 (or at least into the moonlit hours) when busy, and then 'slob out' as best we can when it is quiet. Our frames turn up like the old moonshine used to, overnight, and no one knows where they came from. When we are busy, we have six people working here, three on early shifts (daytime) and three on late shifts. In winter, we downshift to three people working."

Parkyn considers the one-hour service an outstanding addition to his business with very few drawbacks. It is rarely exploited as a marketing tool and best of all, customers do the advertising for you.

Our thanks to Kev Parkyn and Moonshine Framing, located at 1 High Street, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 9HT, or visit at www.frames.uk.com.

Moonshine Framing by night - one of their 24/7 weeks.

2 Photos Above: Uri Geller-themed limited edition Poole pottery plate sandwiched between the front and back glass. An acid-free circular mount cut for the front and a smaller aperture matching mat for the back (this hid the 'innards' of the frame). "In effect, we actually build the frame around the plate."

Moonshine Framing, Penzance.

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