Sichel Inc. has made its mark on Hollywood in an uncommon manner: The company stitches film and TV show titles on crew jackets and just about anything else a person wears down to “Cold Case” slippers.

During its 25 years, it grew from a small Studio City office that housed one embroidery machine into a sprawling Sun Valley factory.

But now it has to adapt to changing times. The recession, Hollywood labor strife and runaway production have cut revenue in half.

Co-owner Nury Morales was forced to lay off eight employees earlier this year.

“It’s been pretty dramatic for us,” said Morales, who started as a receptionist in 1999 and bought the company with her husband in 2006. “But we are trying to do whatever it takes until this economy gets better reworking loans and trying to sublet.”

In order to stop the bleeding, Morales, 35, has begun reaching out to local corporations for business. In May, she hired a marketer who is peddling Sichel’s embroidered T-shirts, hats, towels, bags and other novelty products to companies.

Oftentimes, larger corporations purchase products that are emblazoned with the company logo for trade show and job fair giveaways and employee catalogs. Currently, Sichel embroiders apparel and accessories for DirecTV, the In-N-Out hamburger chain and Walt Disney Co.

Jack Kyser, chief economist for Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said Sichel exemplifies the blue-collar companies that serve the entertainment industry are struggling amid the pressures on Hollywood.

“It’s very painful for these companies,” Kyser said.

Sichel’s 8,600-square-foot facility in Sun Valley has four industrial-size embroidery machines, eight sewing machines, and more than 300 spools of colored thread. It’s become the place where Hollywood goes to get its crew gifts hats, jackets and T-shirts embroidered with a film or TV show title and on-camera items embroidered police badges, physician coats and even props for reality game shows.

“Back in the ’80s, everybody was buying crew gifts and a great deal of profit was coming in,” Morales said.

But things have changed.

The company posted nearly $2 million in revenue in 2006, but that decreased to $1.4 million in 2007 and $1.2 million in 2008.

Sew business

Sichel’s business started to decline after the writers’ strike, and then took a second hit from the yearlong contract dispute between studios and the Screen Actors Guild. What’s more, the economy started to tank and production executives and cast members began cutting back on the size and frequency of crew gifts.

Orders have declined as film and TV production flees California to one of the more than 30 states offering tax credits and rebates for filming there. According to non-profit FilmL.A., movie, television and commercial on-location filming in the greater L.A. area dropped 25 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008.

At the time of the acquisition, though, it seemed like a good fit. Morales and her husband, Ricardo, scraped together enough money to buy the company from founders Stephen and Rosemary Sichel, who no longer wanted the responsibility of running the business.

“It seemed like a natural transition since I knew the business,” said Morales.

The company’s showroom displays the variety of products that Sichel embroiders: towels, blankets, aprons, tote bags and just about anything else that can be stitched with needle and thread. Among the items on display: a custom jacket made for the South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, actor Russell Crowe’s Australian team.

“Cold Case” actor John Finn is also a frequent Sichel customer. Other items on display in the company’s showroom include customized “Cold Case” black bathrobes, and matching slippers that have red lettering that reads “cold” on one slipper and “case” on the other.

Finn, who plays Lt. John Stillman on the CBS police drama, said he often turns to Sichel for gift items because of the company’s ability to turn orders around quickly.

“Nury is very flexible, creative, and assists you in getting what you want,” Finn said. “We’ve gone in pretty late in the holiday season, and she’s been amazing at what she can produce for us. She always says, ‘Don’t worry, we will get it in time.'”

But it’s not just Finn who places orders on short notice. Morales said studio legal departments will often request at the last minute that the embroidered badges the company makes for police and firefighter costumes be redesigned. The problem is that the badges aren’t allowed to look too much like the real thing.

“We can never do anything that real cops or real firefighters use,” Morales said. “Badges will already get approved by the legal department, but then legal comes back and says, ‘This is still too close to the real thing and you have to change something else.'”

There are nights when Morales can be found working late to complete rush orders. But lately, she’s also been spending the majority of her workday on one of the embroidery machines to cut costs.

In an effort to get Sichel’s sales up to previous levels she is working to grow the company’s client roster. “We would love the aerospace companies,” Morales said.

While Sichel isn’t likely to see an immediate boost in business from L.A.’s corporate community because of the weak economy, Kyser said the efforts to tap into other areas could prove fruitful when things turnaround.

“They would have an advantage of going into the market because they have the aura of being in the entertainment industry,” he said. “There is definitely a market niche there that they could exploit.”

While she is looking to expand the company’s reach, it doesn’t mean Sichel plans to abandon the entertainment industry.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people just sitting on scripts,” Morales said. “And hopefully we will be able to get some work not only with crew gifts, but for our on-camera department.”

Sichel Inc.

FOUNDED: 1983

CORE BUSINESS: Production of embroidered clothing, accessories and novelty items for the entertainment industry

EMPLOYEES: 7 (down from 15 in 2008 due to recession-related layoffs)

GOAL: Providing more local corporations with embroidered items, including trade show and job fair giveaways and employee uniforms

THE NUMBERS: Projected revenue of $800,000 in 2009