ST. CLOUD -- Since 1992, All Star Trophy and Awards has been the go-to spot for people looking to give a little recognition to someone else. The St. Cloud business is the next stop in our Thriving Local series.

Marty Heine is the owner. He says customers keep coming back because there's no guessing involved.

"What we like is we get the customer in here, they can hold the award they can look at the award, we can get them the proofs rather than doing it online or something that's out of their control."

The trophy store does a wide variety of trophies, not just sports awards.

"People ask me so much if I do a lot of softball or a lot of bowling actually there are so many things from drama to debate."

Word of mouth about their services has spread quickly as customers come from near and far for their coveted awards.

"It's not just in the St. Cloud area, it's a wide variety, I've actually sent some awards over to Japan, we've gone to California, Florida and the east coast."

While All Star prides itself on serving youth sports teams, they can create an award for just about anything.

"Sometimes if we don't have a figure that matches like a bean bag tournament we can custom print in a disc and put it inside a trophy figure that tells the story that it's a bean bag trophy without having a read the trophy."

Fantasy football league trophies are also a popular item. Heine says these trophies are mostly for bragging purposes.

Something new that's proving to be a huge hit, engraved coffee mugs.

"They are coming out with so many different nice colors, multiple different pastels and bright colors with these. We laser into them and customize it to each individual."

Heine says these mugs are especially popular among wedding parties, teachers and parents who want to show support for their kid's team.

To set themselves apart from other stores and online options, All Star continues to invest in new technology to offer creative services.

"We are coming out with the UV print, we can sand blast into crystal awards, we have the high-end sublimation, we have two lasers and rotary engraving. We feel like we have set ourselves up to move forward into anything that people can bring to us."

From ribbons to plaques to small trophies to giant ones, All Star Trophy and Awards continues to thrive locally.

If you have a suggestion for a business that's thriving locally here in central Minnesota, let us know! Email chrissy@wjon.com

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