A Career in Print Comes to a Close

Hengsts’ Work Told the Story of Fayette Co.; Now Retirement Looms

Don and Sandra Hengst can’t drive through town without seeing their handiwork everywhere in the signs on the windows and walls of businesses.

They can’t open up the newspaper without seeing pictures of people presenting the plaques and trophies they crafted.

The fingerprints of Don and Sandra are all over Fayette County, dating back to when they opened up Hengst Printing on April 1, 1977 – 46 years ago.

“It’s been a fun journey, but all good things must end,” Don said.

Earlier this year Don and Sandra agreed to sell their business to Fernando and Brandi Gutierrez of La Grange, who are combining their existing print business YM Apparel and Hengst Printing into a new entity – LG Print Co.

Since the sales announcement back in February, the Hengsts have been helping the Gutierrez family with the transition almost daily.

But now Don and Sandra are poised to enter retirement a little more fully. They plan to help out one day a week or so for a full year to help the new owners through what is a typical yearly cycle of orders, but then they are off to Marble Falls (Lake LBJ) where they have bought a house.

They have a ranch in Flatonia that grandson Landon Urban will look after, but the Hengsts plan to put their house in Flatonia on the market soon and won’t be Fayette County residents anymore.

But before they go, they reflected on what was a career that put the team jerseys, and triumphs and transactions of Fayette County in print for all to see.

Don, a 1964 LHS grad, describes himself as a “hands on guy” and found the perfect fit for that, studying Industrial Arts with a teaching certification in Southwest Texas State.

He met Sandra at a dance at the Freyburg Hall.

They were engaged three months later. They moved to Austin and later Port Arthur for work.

Don even taught Janis Joplin’s brother in Port Arthur while Sandra worked in the insurance business.

But when expecting their first child, “it was time to come home,” Don said.

He took a job teaching industrial arts (printing, woodworking, etc.) at Giddings State School before he heard The Fayette County Record was hiring in 1973.

At that time the newspaper also sold office supplies and had their own print shop – but that aspect of the business was in the shadow of the newspaper operation.

“The owner at that time, Bonner McMillion, said I’d really have to work it to be successful,” Don said.

In 1977, after the Barton family bought the newspaper, Don was given the option to split the printing and office supply business into its own entity.

They moved into the Svoboda building on Travis St. (one of the three buildings that still house Hengst Printing, now LG Print Co.) and opened up.

“It was unceremonious. We had a skeleton crew, but things kept building,” Don said.

Sandra worked part time at the printing business, while also working at Nitsche Insurance. In the meantime, they had two daughters – Kristi and Stacia.

The Hengsts did signage and print jobs, but things were tough until the oil boom hit the area in the mid-1980s.

“One day two blue suits walked in and asked if we’d be interested in being a Xerox sales agent,” Don said. “It went gang-busters.”

At one time, the Hengsts were the top Xerox salespeople in the entire nation.

Also in the 1980s they bought the adjacent corner building of Travis St. and Washington St. and teamed with John Schaeffer to start Central Office Furniture.

“Diversification was our salvation,” Don said.

The Hengsts also branched out into sporting goods after Sports and Stuff closed on the square, and they also operated a JC Penny Catalog Store and were UPS agents in what eventually grew to their three building complex.

Sandra said another key to their success was staying up to date on the latest digital and laser technology in the print world.

They’ve been glad to share with they know with the Gutierrez family, and they said the business they built is in good hands.

It was a busy and rewarding life, Don and Sandra said, but now they are ready to print a relaxing new chapter to their story.