Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Katherine Schurer, owner of Vinterest Southside, wears her new shirt Friday, May 1, 2020, that was designed for the small business benefit.It’s not exactly the shirt off his back, but the owner of a Murfreesboro, Tennessee, screen-printing company is boosting small businesses statewide with his latest T-shirt design.
Shelby Craig, 37, said the idea for #HereForGoodTN T-shirts arose after the company he founded four years ago, Rocket Shirts, made just $200 the second week of March and in two weeks’ time lost $500,000 in canceled contracts for the year.
With the coronavirus pandemic putting lives in lockdown, Craig’s revenue sources were drying up.
“Schools shut down. Events shut down. Sports teams shut down,” he said. “I was looking at it thinking, ‘My revenue stream is going away, but at least we still have churches.’ Then churches shut down. Holy moly, this is crazy.”
He hoped to piggyback on an idea a friend in St. Louis had begun with her company, Tiny Little Monster, using sales of themed T-shirts to support small businesses. But #HereForGoodSTL had a different twist: multiple shirts for multiple businesses. Craig wanted a plan that was easier to execute: one shirt with statewide appeal.