Between getting access to capital, marketing and managing day-to-day operations, running a business can take entrepreneurs in many unexpected directions. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, we at the Business Initiative Corporation of New York (BICNY) are here in the borough to promote business owners that persist through difficulties and create opportunity.
Eric Gallea, owner and founder of Established Screens, Inc, is one of these business owners. He owns a custom screen printing and apparel company in Port Morris, which was the first business to receive a Community Advantage loan from BICNY for new equipment.
When asked where his journey started, Gallea explained to me that he has come a long way get to the point he is at.
“I started customizing apparel at the ripe age of 18 years old, fresh out of LaGuardia High School, airbrushing custom designs in the Fulton Mall, Downtown Brooklyn,” Gallea said.
He quickly realized that he would need mass-production techniques to make his operation scale, so he started researching and building his first screen printing shop in 2002.
Gallea’s journey to grow his company took him through a wide variety of spaces. The first space he worked out of was a basement under a bar in Manhattan, he rented for 100 dollars a month. In 2012, he moved his operation to the
Bronx, above the infamous Bruckner Bar and Grill at 1 Bruckner Blvd. Since then, he has moved around a few times in the Mott Haven and Port Morris areas. Throughout all this, Gallea said that he was, “developing my own brand,
while taking on orders and perfecting the craft of screen printing.”
Finally, in 2021, Mr. Gallea moved into his dream shop at 480 Austin Place. Now with two employees, Gallea has the space and equipment to produce at the scale he was always aiming to.
To learn more, place an order, and contact Established Screens, Inc., visit establishedscreens.com.
