The lone US manufacturer of boutique keycaps may have just been saved

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.

Signature Plastics is well-regarded in the mechanical keyboard community for its high-quality PBT keycaps in vintage-looking SA and DSA profiles, such as DSA creamsicle and SA nuclear data, often selling runs of keycap sets in limited group buys with long lead times that can make them quite exclusive. It’s the only high-end, boutique keycap maker based in the US.

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.