Signature Plastics, the Custer, Washington-based company known for specialized mechanical keyboard keycaps, has announced it’s being acquired by a Portland-based investment group that intends to keep the company operating with all employees maintained. This comes after majority owner Bob Guenser announced his plans to retire and find new ownership back in January.
The lone US manufacturer of boutique keycaps may have just been saved
As Signature Plastics’ majority owner retires, an investment group with ties to the keyboard community is stepping in.
As Signature Plastics’ majority owner retires, an investment group with ties to the keyboard community is stepping in.
is a reviewer covering laptops and the occasional gadget. He spent over 15 years in the photography industry before joining The Verge as a deals writer in 2021.
Signature Plastics is well-regarded in the mechanical keyboard community for its high-quality, vintage-looking keycaps, including dye-sublimated PBT sets like DSA creamsicle and doubleshot ABS sets like SA nuclear data. It is the only company manufacturing high-end boutique keycaps in the US. In addition to the keycaps sold through its own web store, it produces keycaps for other vendors as well as limited-run community group buys.
The investment group coming to Signature Plastics’ rescue is led by Will Clark, a self-proclaimed keyboard enthusiast who previously worked in e-commerce and cofounded software-as-a-service startups. While Clark has already joined SP’s leadership team, the acquisition will not be finalized until 2025.
Clark sat down for a brief video interview with Tae Ha Kim on his YouTube channel Taeha Types to discuss the acquisition and what brought him and his partners to Signature Plastics and offer fans some reassurance that notable mainstays in the company like minority owner Melissa Petersen are staying on.
It’s pretty common for acquisitions to get messy, with changes to the products or staffing that may be felt soon after. Fans of Signature Plastics in the community seem to see this as a win so far, and hopefully, the brand’s quality keycaps will be able to continue in the midst of growing competition from dupes and copycats in the market.
Correction, September 18th: This article previously implied that Specialized Plastics only produces dye-sublimated PBT keycaps. It also makes doubleshot ABS keycaps.
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