When you do business with FASTFRAME Eagan you are supporting a locally-owned small business and purchasing something handcrafted that is made right here in Eagan, MN. We are both a local retailer and a small manufacturer!

Everything from the mats, glass, backing and frames are all cut to order right in the back of our small store. It’s a mini-manufacturing facility, of sorts. We start with cutting the mats using our top of the line computerized cutter from Wizard International located in Portand, OR. It’s probably our favorite tool because it allows us to be creative and profitable at the same time, because we can cut complicated matting designs quickly. We also use other quality pieces of equipment that are essential to our services such as a Brevetti Prisma mitre saw, an ITW AMP VN42 joining machine and a SEAL mounting press from Naugatuck, CT.

In today’s world economy we use some products imported from all around the world, but a majority of the components for our custom frames are Made in America. We try to run the shop using environmentally friendly processes and sustainable forest products when possible.

I thought it might be interesting to highlight some of our Made in America products, so here is a shot at just that:

Tru-Vue Glass: Many of the items we frame require glass. We use mainly Tru-Vue products. Tru-Vue is based out of McCook, IL and are known as a leader and innovator in the protection and conservation of all things framed and displayed. They make several high quality glasses with a 99% UV coating which protects your art from fading. Our favorite product is Museum Glass. Museum Glass makes your art look great. Really great. This Museum Glass happens via a special coating which is applied right down I-35 in Fairbault, MN, by the way. The finished product is so clear that every few days we have to clean our display sample because it gets gummed up from people touching it to make sure there is really glass in it.

Larson-Juhl: This supplier has its roots in the Larson company founded here in Minnesota during the late 1960s. Over the years they have grown into the largest picture framing materials distributor and manufacturer of fine picture frame mouldings worldwide. We use a ton of Larson mouldings to make our frames. Larson has manufacturers many American Hardwood frames in Ashland, WI. Here is a video showing their processes:

Framerica is another one of our Made in USA suppliers—and our favorite value line. You see, in our world, less expensive frames are normally a big pain to work with because in order to keep the price down the manufacturer skimps on wood and/or finish quality (or sometimes, both).  Not so with Framerica! Made of recycled post-consumer waste, Framerica is the original eco-friendly picture frame moulding and they’ve perfected providing a lower cost alternative that we are proud to sell. Located on Long Island in New York, we were relieved to hear that the factory was left undamaged by the ravages of Hurricane Sandy late last year.

So, in short, when you do business with FASTFRAME Eagan, you ARE supporting a local business that makes handcrafted custom products with component parts sourced in America and all over the world. Our promise to you is quality workmanship and beautiful designs–and we stand behind that with our Satisfaction Guarantee. (That’s another blog post…but ask us about it.)