“Anything you want on a T-shirt” has been VA Shirt Shop’s motto for a while — but it was labor intensive to fill orders, owner Brandon Lee said.
He started the business in 2008 initially selling custom-printed T-shirts at a flea market on Williamsburg Road in Henrico County.
After recently upgrading to new equipment that allows him to streamline production, Lee is shifting the company’s business model and planning a move to a larger space.
The business recently leased a 2,800-square-foot office space at 2107 Dabney Road in Henrico and will be moving from a 900-square-foot space on Lakeside Avenue this week or next, Lee said.
“We are moving in the direction of just being a fulfillment company for other businesses,” Lee said.
“For instance if you want to start yourself up a web store selling T-shirts and advertise them on Facebook and Instagram, you are going to want someone to print them for you. We’re that guy.”
With the new Brother GTX direct-to-garment printers the business is taking on larger orders. One day last week, for instance, the employees printed more than 800 shirts.
“The printers I used before, there was no software solution to automate the whole process,” Lee said.
Lee said he is shifting to a new 24-shirt minimum order, but plans to continue to take care of existing clients that have helped the company grow.
Sarah Martin, Lee’s wife, is gradually phasing out of her 10-year job as an operations manager with a local wealth management firm to work full-time in her husband’s business.
“Once we move into this new space … we plan to hire about five more people to have a total of 10 employees,” Martin said
With the new equipment and upgraded software “You can print anything because it’s like printing on paper,” Lee said. “We did do other printing methods, but it’s always been my goal to narrow it down.”
Peter Vick and Harrison Hall of Divaris Real Estate Inc. represented Martin in the lease negotiations for the Dabney Road space.
Spurrier Group lands Illinois tourism account
Richmond-based Spurrier Group will be helping get the message out about Illinois tourism.
New York-based J. Walter Thompson advertising and communications firm has hired Spurrier to work on a media campaign for the Illinois Office of Tourism.
Spurrier Group will handle media planning, buying, placement and analysis of ads in traditional, digital and social media channels on the account.
“Today’s travelers are looking for unique experiences and Illinois has a great story to tell with so much to offer in many arenas, including culinary, music, sports, history, arts and outdoors,” Donna Spurrier, founder and CEO of Spurrier Group, said in a statement.
“We have some specific goals to hit in 2018 we are just about ready to launch the campaign that is aligned to get there.”
J. Walter Thompson and Spurrier Group previously have worked together on accounts .
Lucid Living yoga opens downtown
Natasha Foreman’s former yoga studio space in Carytown was all of 200 square feet.
Space was so tight she had to display retail merchandise, mainly yoga tops, on a rolling rack, which could be moved out of the way for classes.
Space is not a problem in her new 1,887-square-foot space on the ground floor of newly renovated building at 300 E. Grace St. Foreman has enough room for her yoga studio, retail shop, and more.
Lucid Living holistic healing and wellness center opened last month, with Foreman and other practitioners offering yoga, intuitive massage, Thai bodywork, reiki, sound therapy, aromatouch, yoni steams and more.
Foreman said she turned to those practices when she was going through a rough patch.
“All the things that we do here are the things that helped me to heal and continue to help me to heal,” she said. “I feel like it has to be my offering to the community.”
The business currently has about 11 group classes week. Classes can be purchased individually or as four- or eight-class packages. Other healing services are priced separately.
Carytown Collectivelaunches with 5 vendors
Paula Rhoads has transformed the retail space at 3422 W. Cary St. into The Carytown Collective, with local independent businesses sharing the space and able to rent for as little as three months.
The current tenants are:
- Elements of Carytown, which sells fragrances, skincare, cosmetics, bathing and haircare products;
- Twig, which sells home decor, furniture, rugs, gifts, jewelry, accessories and baby items;
- Urban Interiors, selling gifts, home décor and furnishings;
- Basket and Bike, which offers bicycle excursions and picnic rides on the Virginia Capital Trail and in Richmond and Williamsburg; and
- Handmade by Marty, which sells handmade paper and fabric creations.
- Cross Brothers Grocery in Ashland posted on its Facebook page on March 19 that it would be closing March 30 for renovations. The store at 107-109 S. Railroad Ave. in Ashland has been operating since 1912. A store official declined to answer questions about the store’s plans.
- Discount Tire opened a new location at 14120 Hull Street Road in Chesterfield County, across the street from Hancock Village Shopping Center, on March 16. The Arizona-based company opened its first Virginia location in 2016 and has since expanded to eight locations in Virginia.
- The remodel of the Walmart Supercenter at 2410 Sheila Lane in South Richmond was recently completed. The store has the Richmond area’s second pickup tower to retrieve orders made online. Other upgrades include additional self-checkout stations and new signage throughout the store.
- The new Richmond Volleyball Club facility at 200 Karl Linn Drive in Chesterfield County is open. The 50,000-square-foot center, estimated to cost $7 million, is in the Stonebridge development near Midlothian Turnpike and Chippenham Parkway.
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