NETTLETON – Phillip Baulch hopes he has the must-have souvenir for Tupelo-area tourists.

Baulch, CEO of Nettleton-based Digital Impressions, a 4-year-old business that specializes in direct mailing and graphic design, is making flat metal guitars that are mounted on a piece of metal shaped like the Tennessee Valley Authority sign at Crosstown.

The guitar design is modeled after Elvis Presley’s first guitar, which his mother bought for him at Tupelo Hardware.

“To me, that just screams Tupelo,” Baulch said.

The items steer clear of licensing issues by not using Elvis’ name or likeness. Instead, they have “Tupelo Miss.” printed on the front.

The metal guitars come in a variety of sizes, but managers at Digital Impressions expect the smaller 12-inch guitars to be the most popular with tourists. Prices start around $40 and vary depending on the size and finish.

The foot-tall guitars are miniature versions of the 6-foot tall metal guitars that will be installed around downtown Tupelo in early January. The large guitars have been decorated by school children in the Tupelo Public School District.

“I want one day in the future for (the Tupelo guitar) to be as iconic as the TVA sign,” said Russell Stafford, the art director at Digital Impressions.

The guitar art project is the brainchild of Kit Stafford, Stafford’s wife and an art teacher at Thomas Street Elementary. It’s being made possible through a partnership with the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association.

Digital Impressions got involved after DTMSA backed the project and needed a company to make the guitars, which have been dubbed the “Tupelo guitar.”

Baulch said the venture had a tight budget, but he chose to get involved, even if it meant the company might end up donating labor or materials.

“We all felt it was very important for us to support the project,” Baulch said. “To me, Tupelo should have pushed to make the city more of an Elvis neighborhood. We all live here and know it.”

“But,” Russell Stafford said, “we all take it for granted.”

Baulch enlisted Outback Industries and National Custom Craft, two other Nettleton-based companies, to help fabricate and finish the 6-foot tall guitars. Sherwin-Williams donated the paint.

As the company started working on guitar designs, the light bulb went on for the tourism possibilities.

“Once the ones are on the street, a certain number of local people will want them,” Russell Stafford said. “Beyond that, there are hundreds of thousands of tourists that come through town. That’s what we’re going after.”

Elvis visitors

According to the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau, 254,978 tourists visited Tupelo’s attractions in most recent fiscal year. The birthplace was responsible for 46,653 of the total count.

The tourist numbers mean dollar signs for Digital Impressions as far as souvenir sales. As of last week, the company supplies merchandise to three Tupelo businesses – Tupelo Hardware, Reed’s and the Elvis Presley Birthplace.

An e-commerce site will be launched in January, Baulch said.

Howard Hite at Tupelo Hardware said a handful of the guitars have sold, but it’s a slow time for Elvis-related travel.

“I think we’ll sell a bunch of them come January with Elvis’ birthday,” Hite said. “I think it’s going to be a really great thing for Tupelo once we get the big ones out. ... I’m sure (international tourists) will jump on these guitars.”

Digital Impressions is hoping so, too. Along with the shopping aspect of the site, Baulch wants to post pictures of where the guitars wind up, similar to the popular garden gnome pictures from around the world.

The company also is working on other guitar merchandise prototypes, with the evidence spread throughout the office.

There are 12-inch guitars on one shelf, 24-inch guitars in another corner, a guitar lamp on a table, bookends on another shelf and a few wall-mounted guitars.

All together, the company has made about 1,000 of the guitars.

Digital Impressions has an illustration of another idea – an 18-foot guitar installed in front of Tupelo City Hall. Perry Whitaker, a member of Digital Impression’s management, said the idea is still up in the air.

Baulch said the employees have a lot more ideas, including flower pots and business card holders.

“It gets crazy when it gets in front of folks,” Baulch said.

The ideas get a bit grander, too. The company execs want to see Tupelo latch on to the guitars like other cities have done with cows, swans and carousel horses.

Stafford envisions large guitars along the highways, creating an entryway that visitors would drive through. He, Baulch and Whitaker also see a time when the 6-foot guitars are spread all over the city, not just in downtown.

They picture the guitars marking stops on an Elvis-related tour of Tupelo and acting as a marker for the former location of the fairgrounds stage where Elvis performed.

“Our city – Mississippi in general – we have such a rich musical history,” Stafford said. “The people who see it every day and live here take it for granted. We hope when people see the guitars, it will remind them of what a rich musical history we have.”

Contact Carlie Kollath at (662) 678-1598 or carlie.kollath@djournal.com.