This year marks 20 years of our print shop. To kick off a year of celebration, we’re looking back how it began and the milestones that shaped us along the way.
After getting settled in our new office space and with our social media following starting to take off, we launched a small capsule collection of designs intended to be promotional merch for our existing custom print clients. Demand for these designs skyrocketed and we quickly adapted our office space into a tiny makeshift showroom. Our inventory system was piles of shirts on each step of the stairway that led to the basement print studio. The team got their exercise by running orders up and down the stairs, even sometimes pulling shirts fresh off the press, still warm to the touch. With no changerooms, customers would try on clothing in the building’s washrooms…
A big thank you to those who have stuck with us through the growing paints <3
The demand for provincial-themed apparel was clear, so we did our best to keep up. A lot of the original prints from this time, like YXE and Sask Forest, have since left our regular rotation (for now…) and have now become a kin to collectors items.
It wasn’t long before we took a chance on our first pop-up shop in Regina. We headed south with a truck full of tees and a small, passionate crew. We sold out in just a few hours.
This was another sign that things had shifted for the brand.
Our little space was bursting at the seams, and a new opportunity came around that we couldn’t pass up…
Part three’s next up.
