Ed's Musing's (click individual blog to comment)

 I've got a story to tell you about the T-shirt. See, it all started out as just a simple piece of underwear for soldiers and sailors. But then Marlon Brando came along and showed us how cool the T-shirt could look in "A Streetcar Named Desire." And just like that, the T-shirt became a symbol of rebellion and cultural expression.

Fast forward a few years, and the T-shirt was making political and social statements, and then in the 70s, graphic T-shirts were all the rage. And let's not forget the 80s, when high-end designer T-shirts became a thing, and brands like Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger were putting their own spin on the classic T-shirt.

Nowadays, the T-shirt is a blank canvas for artists and designers to express themselves, and they come in all sorts of styles and designs. It's pretty wild to think about how far the T-shirt has come, and it's a testament to the power of fashion to evolve and change.

So, the next time you slip into your favorite T-shirt, take a moment to appreciate its journey from simple undergarment to fashion staple. And who knows, maybe one day you'll even design your own T-shirt and become a part of its story.

Source; ChatGPT

We are hard at work in the off-season; Currently in the store, we are improving the decor, layout, a new wall across the back, new displays, and displays that make it easier to shop and to see more of the selections. 

We are choosing a new and better hoodie, crew neck sweatshirt, and zip up hoodie. We like the quality, softness, and the attractive new colors!   We are choosing new youth shirts in 2 new heathered colors, and we are adding a ladies crew neck shirt choice as well.

We are increasing the focus on the lake shirts, making it easier to see the different product options the lake designs can be printed on, and examining new cap color options to keep the cap choices fresh and.... new.

Over the next few months we will be updating the website shopping experience, including showing every design on every color choice and product choice for a better, smoother online shopping experience. Lastly, we plan to add a neat, fun feature in the store which will allow our best, regular customers to receive a discount on their purchases.

And now... back to work!!

I may not be making much noise right now, but we are working on store, product, and design updates that we think will be very exciting for the upcoming year.

Back to work..........

Sampling new brand of hoodies for the upcoming year. Excited about the current samples and colors, feel it will be a big, fresh upgrade.

It's arguably my favorite time of year at Roth Shirt Co.; the time to be creative. New designs, updates to store layout, new products and product colors, update website, overall grow the customer experience. In general, it's the time of year I get to be creative, which is the most fun for me. Being creative actually means growing, improving, stepping forward to the next level of customer interaction.

We all enjoy something new, something fresh, and this is the time of year I have the opportunity to create new things so that you, the customer, can come into the store and be wowed, thrilled, made more happy. So off I go, working on new designs and experiences for the coming year. 

And (never start a sentence with "and") when I say my favorite time of year, I realize that the summer months of meeting and making happy customers, which are the fruits of the winters creative labors, is just as favorable in a different way. All part of the enjoyment I have of Roth Shirt Co.

Mackinaw Brewing Co. has been a staple at the corner of Front and Cass for many many years, and was one of the very first brewing companies to open in Traverse City. It has been sold, and has closed. The new building owners will be working on, as I understand it, remodeling and opening a new restaurant and brewery. Congratulations to Mackinaw owners Rod and his wife, who have worked countless hours over the years. Hopefully this means retirement and enjoying the fruits of their hard work.

Holidays, and the 2022 shopping season are over. At Roth Shirt Co., it is time to be grateful for a good year; good sales, and an overall good year of connecting with our customers along with great employees.

Now comes the fun part; new designs! It's the time of year I get to be most creative, which includes coming up with new designs and updating the store and online experience. It's time to catch my breath, and operate in a different gear. I love the mixture of fun, crazy, busy summers with happy people enjoying the amazing Traverse region, combined with the slower paced Northern Michigan Winter and off-season.

Looking forward to the fun changes and creative process this time of year brings for Roth Shirt Co. (picture from winter beach walk, 2023!)

Men's night, as usual, was a great night to end the Holiday Event Season. I thoroughly enjoy seeing old friends, and having a night to cut loose and relax. Thanks to all who came out and said "hi". I'm already looking forward to next year, Lord willing, and am formulating plans for more giveaways and food to share.

One highlight for me this year was a cousin who I had never met stopping to say hi and introduce himself... Thanks for saying hi Chris!!

I appreciate the customers who shop with us, and tell us they love to support small businesses like ours. We are a small business. We operate that way. I have always focused on being creative, doing what I felt was right in my heart, and trying to uplift our customers (and employees). Our downtown in Traverse City is a desireble downtown because many/most of the businesses, restaurants, etc. are locally based, owned, and run, and that gives us a strong, unique, independent feel. Two interesting points that come to my mind;

1) I have recently hired a business advisor. I feel I am strong on independent thinking and being creative in my approach, but I am not strong on numbers and business goals. In fact, my advisor recently asked me my business goals for the coming year, the sales and profit numbers I want to aim for. I told him the truth; I just cannot work with goals of sales or numbers. To me it takes the organic fun and uniqueness of my business completely away. I don't like the feel of sales goals, I like the goal of growing our creativity, customer experience, and day to day fun of what we do. 

2) about 5 years ago we had a store in Suttons Bay. One day a small group came in, and asked if we took Apple Pay (relatively new at the time), as they had were on a boat trip and no one had brought their wallet. They were from Chicago, and were used to Apple Pay (from your Iphone) being common. I told them they didn't, but that they were welcome to pick out the shirts they wanted and send me a check when they got home.   A week or two later, they called me. I had basically forgotten about them, as that is what I do =:l.  This is great; they went across the street the day they were in the store to eat at a restaurant (VI Grill) and they didn't take Apple Pay either. The young man who was seating them told them to go ahead and eat, he would pay for their meal, and they could send him payment when they got back to Chicago!! The lady who was calling me to settle up was blown away that anyplace in the world still operated that way. She said ehe felt like she was in the twilight zone... and loved it!!

I love the FEEL of small business

Covid reared it's ugly head. Downstate, I was hit strong and bedridden Thursday PM until Sunday. Didn't eat for two days. Unfortunately, I had to cancel our scheduled appearance at the MSU Winter Gift Show. (On the good side of that for you, the customer, is that we will have almost 200 extra stock of our best selling designs at a strong sale price this week!).

I have turned the corner and am recovering quickly now. A prescription called Paxlovid seems to have been extremely helpful. The main takeaway for me is the truth of the good ol' cliche, "it's really all about your friends and loved ones". Grateful to have had the care, concern, and prayers of groups of friends and loved ones. In life, things come our way that we would prefer they didn't, and yet our life is better for their challenge and Blessings.

This is sort of a test... I want to find out if:

  This email address works from here

  Anyone is reading this.

The first person to send me an email from here, that I receive, will get a free short sleeve Roth shirt of their choice. Includes shipping.  Have a nice day =:l

UPDATE: we have received an email and given away the free shirt!

sales@rothshirtco.com  (copy and paste)