NewTrend Graphics owner Mitch Smoak holds up a Ryan’s Express II T-shirt worn by a team from Erlanger in this year’s recent Walk to Cure Diabetes. He created the shirt inside his Fort Oglethorpe store.Fort Oglethorpe’s NewTrend Graphics is celebrating one year in business this spring.
Previously creating carpet in his own business in Dalton, NewTrend owner Mitch Smoak switched gears to create T-shirt designs in his shop next door to Classic Blades.
“The carpet business went south a few years ago,” Smoak said. “I’ve always wanted a T-shirt company and this was my chance.”
His business can print almost anything onto T-shirts, hoodies, long-sleeve T-shirts and tank tops, he said.
“We do stuff that screenprinters won’t or can’t do,” said Smoak. “The price varies on how much you get.”
Many designs are created for churches, ball teams, cancer benefits, walks, family reunions and pets. A recent order of hoodies was created for Rossville business Chattanooga Custom Cycle and Collision.
“Anyone that wants a T-shirt, we can do it,” said Smoak. “I go to church at Oakwood Baptist and I create T-shirts for them often. I also volunteer with Celebrate Recovery at Calvary Memorial Baptist Church. We give T-shirts away to Celebrate Recovery participants.”
A native of Lookout Mountain, he served in the United States Navy for six years as an aviation storekeeper handling aviation parts. He said the Navy taught him how to rise early and gave him the discipline to run first his former business and now his new business.
In the mornings Smoak runs what needs to be created, answers phones and takes orders. The T-shirt designer comes in every day at 2:30 p.m. to begin plotting out designs.
“If it’s machine-ready, we can make shirts in a couple of hours,” said Smoak. “We can do two-day turnarounds and sometimes one-day turnarounds if the artwork is ready.”