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It's all about community
Terri Lynne Waldron, a true journalist that digs deep into community issues and the arts,
spotlights a Positive Side of Parkdale reality.
From the 80's at the Parkdale Liberty Center to now on Queen Street, The Shop continues to be all about community.
Photo:
The Shop during Art Crawl.
Interview with The Shop by: Terri Lynne Waldron
Q: Why did you want to start a t-shirt business?
A: I guess for the same reason you are a journalist, because it's something we enjoy doing.
Making one of a kind custom t-shirts is fun job, there is always a story behind every shirt
and most of the time clients share these stories with us. It's like a 20-45 minute
mini co-operative create/crafting project that walked in out of the blue.
Fun it is, but when you consider the time it takes to make 1 custom shirt
for $ 30 (American Apparel t-shirt included) and how many shirts can be made in a days work,
there is no real profit there.
In order to stay in business and offer the "One of a Kind" custom t-shirt service,
we reach out to businesses in the community like Rasheeda Wilson from Fern Cliff Day Care
and others and offer them special rates on Company Shirts. In return they place Bulk Orders
and continue to do so on a yearly basis. These Types of sales are what support/supplement
the 1 Off's Custom T-Shirts Service. So in a sense, with out the support from the community
businesses, designers, TV people etc. we would not be here.
Q: How long have you been at the 1267 Queen St location?
There is a term that says that, 'Location is everything."
Does that ring true for your reasons for choosing the Parkdale location?
This store has been here for about 4 or 5 years now.
Yes the Retailing Manual does say " Location, Location, Location " are the 3 most important
things when starting a retail business. In our case this does not apply.
The reason being we provide a Specialty Type Service and our clients come from
everywhere. We are not 100% dependent on walk/drive by traffic as an Off The Rack Retailer would be.
Choosing Parkdale to open up shop involved a few deciding factors, Good Rental Rates
without the regulations of shopping mall type lease,
a Strong Artistic Community and a Queen Street Address that is easy to find.
At the time, we felt that
the East of Spadina Queen street was getting too populated, expensive and it was losing it's true
origins that made it hip with major brands and development moving in.
This made Parkdale a cool place to be, artistic people know that Parkdale is cool
and that's what made it attractive to us, without big billboard advertisements
displaying how cool it really is. So here we are.
Q: A sign on the side wall of your store says CUSTOM T-SHIRTS WHILE YOU WAIT.
If I walked into your store at 2PM on a Tuesday and asked you to create a t-shirt with
am image on it, how long do I have to wait to get it?
Just like it reads " While You Wait ".
Well, to give you a little background on the term " Custom T-Shirts While You Wait ",
This term originated in the 70's when you could walk in to a custom t-shirt store
and get your name, slogan etc. printed on a shirt using die-cut iron on letters,
known as ‘journalism tees,’ or choose a stock transfer like " I'm with Stupid "
and have it printed on a shirt. These shirts were and continue to be a
fashion statement on their own and in some cases a way to express yourself in
ways you normally wouldn't...!
This Term and how we make t-shirts while you wait has NOT changed much here.
We continue to use the Old School Die-Cut Type Iron-on Letters along with our
NEW Custom Cut process that allows our clients to create their own Entire Words
Slogan or single color designs on the spot. This is a big part of the business
and all made while you wait.
With some of our regular clients, they make the shirts them self’s, they look thru our scrap box,
find the letters/designs, lay them out/placement on the garment, they create collages etc.
right here in the store and we encourage that, we just help them pressing it on with the
Heat Press Machine.
Now if you are looking to print " YOUR OWN DESIGN " with more than one color,
you need to provide us with your artwork and in most cases this is not possible to do while
you wait. Because it may involve screens or other processes to achieve the look and feel you want.
It's also NOT cost effective to make 1 T-shirt when your design has MORE than 1 color,
we recommend you buy Photo Transfer material available at various craft/office supply stores
and make it yourself using your home bubble jet printer to make the Iron-on Transfer,
then iron-it on.
Q: What type of t-shirts are the best sellers (Britney Spears...maybe as a kitsch idol)?
And why do you think those best sellers sell well?
A: The top sellers are the custom slogan shirts we make for people.
As for top selling iron-on's, Britney is not even on the top 1000 list.
These Licensed Britney Iron-on's along with a bunch of other pop/rock titles,
we purchased from Impulse/Stahls when they decide to close out the collection due to a
shortfall of popular demand and inflated price/unit. We could not allow this deleted collection
of classic pop/rock artists ( Beatles, Doors, Santana, Alice Cooper, 3 Stooges and others )
to end up at a dollar store printed on on dollar t-shirts. These artists simply do not belong there.
So we bought them all. Yes we paid a good buck for them, we feel they are well worth it and
eventually they will sell.
Our top selling ready to apply iron-on transfer designs in the community are
our Parkdale Shirts, “ Miss Parkdale “,
“ Parkdale Alive with Pleasure “, “ Parkdale is for Lovers “, and a few others.
Q: What type of buyers do you get in the store:
Queen Street hipsters? Young kids looking for that cool trendy t-shirt (Vote For Pedro).....?
A: Our client base is a wide range and all ages, moms that come in with their kids and
re-live the time when they made custom shirts them selfs, artists, designers, brands, retailers,
businesses and so on. This week we made shirts for Jason Agnew the host of Bite TV,
thru the years we have made shirts and custom iron on's for hundreds of celebrities and Brands,
Andy Kim " Rock Me Gently ", Moe Berg, Howie Mandel, Barbie, MacDonalds, Mountain, Modrobes ...!
Q: How do you think, (if at all), the best selling shirts reflect the people in the community?
Because our best selling shirts are the ones people create them selfs,
for us this is a clear indication that Parkdale is a creative artistic based community.
Q: Do you feel any sense of competition with the store, I'M WITH STUPID?
None at all. Having this retailer open up a t-shirt shop across the street from us is a
good thing. Just like if a Sew On Patch and Buttons retailer would be since it fits in with
what we do.
Maybe this area will get more popular as the place to buy t-shirts,
just like " Sam The Record Man " with A&A Records next door scenario, it became
the place to buy music. So perhaps when people are looking for Parkdale
they may eventually say, it's where " The Shop " is, you know the lipstick color t-shirt store.
Yes we have seen this city block change since we set up shop, with
new retailers and galleries. Let's not forget about the ones that were here before us,
Made You Look, Cadillac Lounge, The Stones Place and so on... , they attract visitors from everywhere
and that's a good thing for any start up business.
When we first opened, we were surprised to see the number of people
that live and work here that came in to buy stuff to show their community support,
they continue to shop here for which we are grateful.
Q; Are there any type of custom shirts that you refuse to
make...or does any request get filled?
Generally no, since we are not in business to judge individuals for what they want to print
on a shirt. Making Your own custom t-shirt is all about the freedom to choose what you want
printed on the shirt. Sure we would refuse to make you a shirt when the message is clearly to
encourage gun violence for example, or if you are not an adult and want to make custom panties.
We have never refused to make a shirt here because there has never been any such requests.
Thank you.
My Pleasure.
Jamie Mays - T-Shirt maker - The Shop For Custom T-Shirts
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