Every so often Underground Ryland and I get antsy ants-ni about the name of the Blog. With so many good names out there, when we think of one we don’t want to just let it go. While brainstorming stupid twitter names, Rylo came up with “House of Tee’s” and I added “UGP”. Hence: UGP’S HOUSE OF TEES.

And the list of “formerly known as” gets longer:

That’s What Tee Said (we were pretty obssessed with Michael Scott and the Office)

The Underblog (My creation, vetoed by everyone else)

Lando Calrissian’s T-Shirt Extravaganza (theoretical title prior to creation and theoretically the best name)

No we didn’t change our name to “Nation’s 39th Largest Printer”…someone else us named us that. Impressions Magazine, in fact, was the source of that particular bit of information. Every year, Impressions (the Decorated Apparel Industry’s magazine) publishes their list of the highest of the high volume screenprinters in the United States.

With over ONE MILLION completed garments in 2008, Underground Printing moved up one spot to the be the 39th largest screenprinter in the nation. Yup, in the whole country there’s only 38 companies cranking out more product than UGP! We were also 1 of only 12 companies in the top 50 to increase their output by more than 10% over the previous year. Despite the downturn in the national economy, UGP is going and growing strong!

Check out the full article to see the notable quotables from UGP co-owner Rishi Narayan.

With such a great showing last year, it’s important to us to recognize and thank all of our outstanding customers from each of our 12 locations and nationwide online. Without all of your continued patronage, loyalty, and referrals, we wouldn’t be the UGP we are today. So thanks UGP customers! We’re gunning for the top 30 this year, so we’ll need all of your help to get there - keep the orders, pictures, Facebook Fans, referrals, and great t-shirt designs coming all year!

We posted a story on this shirt from Sconnie.com, but the “We’ll Never Forget You Brent” design is garnering more and more national attention as the Never Forget Brent movement gains momentum. The folks at Sconnie(R) are thrilled with the response the “We’ll Never Forget You Brent” design has been getting and  are trying to keep pace with the continued blistering demand for these “Brent Favre” parody shirts. Check out some of the publicity for the hottest selling t-shirt in Sconnie’s history!

deadspin.com Wisconsin actually has an inspired sense of humor!

foxsports.com Wisconsin store’s shirts poke fun at “Brent Favre”

Wisconsin State Journal The legend of good ol’ ‘Brent’ Favre lives on in T-shirt

ESPN1070 live broadcast Sconnie store manager Isaac Lenz tells the tale of the We’ll Never Forget You Brent shirts

Yahoo! Answers People are trying to figure out what this is all about! Brent Favre man!

BUY YOUR “WE’LL NEVER FORGET YOU BRENT” SHIRT TODAY AT SCONNIE.COM   - DON’T GET TAKEN IN BY IMITATORS, SHOW YOUR DISDAIN WITH THE ORIGINAL BRENT SHIRT!

UGP is one of the best custom apparel producers of all time, and Jake Herbert is one of the best collegiate wrestlers of all time.  Okay, so maybe I’m biased on the former, but the latter is a fact.  During his time at Northwestern University, Jake was a 2-time NCAA undefeated champion, 4-time All-American, 3-time Big 10 Champion, and the Dan Hodge Trophy winner for being THE BEST wrestler in the NCAA.  On top of all this, Jake graduated with stellar grades as a Communications Major with a Business Minor. Recently Jake won the World Team Trials, so he will represent the USA in Denmark this September at the World Championships at 84kg.

UGP-Evanston printed shirts for Jake. Funds from his shirt sales are going toward his training expenses, which will help his dream of becoming the best wrestler in the world. You can follow his dream on www.jakeherbert.com. Check it out. Good luck Jake!

-posted by UGP Evanston Store Manager Kris Johnston

Sconnie’s newest shirt and Wisconsin sensation “We’ll Never Forget You Brent” was posted on Deadspin today. The server apparently went down on the Sconnie site but they’re working on getting it up shortly. Stop by the store at 521 State St. in Madison this weekend to pick up yours or buy one online as soon as the sites back up!

Underground Printing has just launched its second independent retail line of collegiate apparel, this time on campus in Bloomington. The store, which originally opened in the fall of 2008 at its previous location on Indiana Ave, has been recently relocated to 512 E. Kirkwood Ave. The new, larger space offers us the opportunity to release a line of IU licensed collegiate apparel, with a new twist for the campus shoppers. The store has also expanded its hours to include business hours on the weekends on both Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m, along with the weekday hours from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Following in the footsteps of our East Lansing, MI location, the Bloomington store’s retail line will include a lot of fitted, hip styles from brands like American Apparel and a number of sustainable and eco-friendly products. We hope to generally keep things fresh with short run designs that can be responsive to the climate on campus and will always have something new to offer students and residents. Plans are also in the works to feature a number of IU student-made  designs in the fall.

We kicked off our first big weekend with an original Little 500 design that flew off the shelves, while the American Apparel tri-blend continues to be a popular item on campus. Stop in today to check out the new designs!

The Live to Give Foundation (L2G) is a grassroots Non-Profit charitable organization that was created to help families in their time of need in a personal way. L2G was created in November of 2007, by two college students, Kevin Smith from Michigan State University and Ryan Doyle from the University of Michigan. The goal of the charity is to bring those who donate and the recipients of those donations closer together by adding the personal touch to every aspect of charitable giving. They do this by creating videos of the donating individuals for the recipients to see and vice-versa . This allows a deeper and more meaningful relationship to develop between both parties, improving  the experience and hopefully encouraging others to get involved.

Visit the L2G website livetogivefoundation.org to view all the videos from the first two families they’ve helped and see all the local businesses and sponsors who have gone above and beyond to help L2G change the world. Underground Printing is proud to be involved with such a great cause. Check out their custom printed shirts below!

- by UGP East Lansing Store Manager Erik Johnston

The Davisson Brothers Band comes straight from the hills of West Virginia and has been rocking the East Coast with their unique fusion of bluegrass, country, and southern rock. The band has been touring for about 15 years and gaining a large fan base through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee. They have recently released their first self-titled album which is available in Wal-Mart’s, FYE’s and select music stores throughout the country. The album has 13 amazing tracks which include their hit single “Big City Hillbilly”, and other killer tracks including “Foot Stompin”, and “Found Dead on Fence Line”.

The band knows how to put on a show, big or small. The Davisson Brothers Band plays every show likes it’s their last and can really get a crowd moving. Their performances create so much energy that you can’t help but get up and start stompin’ your feet.  They plan to start touring more venues through the southern part of the country. If you get the chance to see them in person, they are sure to keep you entertained from beginning to end.

The band consists of brothers Donnie(Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar) and Chris Davisson(Lead Guitar/Slide Guitar), cousin Sammie Davisson(Bass/Vocals), and childhood friend Aaron Regester(Drums). The band has also recently started printing their band apparel with Underground Printing, which is available at their online store. If you’d like to check out a preview of the album, you can listen to some samples on their MySpace page. UGP is looking forward to watching the band grow as they continue to gain popularity throughout the country.

-by UGP Morgantown Store Manager Troy Koon

Don’t worry, the title is an unofficial one.

The Underground Printing Champaign-Urbana location was bustling last week as scores of students headed to our location at 502 E. John St. to celebrate Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day in style with their very own custom printed t-shirts. For those of you not  from central Illinois, Unofficial is an enormous campus wide party to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a little early. While student participation is discouraged by city and campus officials, it seems little can be done to dissuade the tradition as thousands of students spend the day celebrating their Irish heritage…or something like that.

It was  a record turn out for Unofficial orders this year, as over 150 orders poured in - our staff was so busy keeping up we had to call in reinforcements from our West Lafayette store! The production facility is looking festive as irish green shirts are in every corner. We were thrilled to be a part of the event and hope that everyone has a fun and safe Unofficial 2009.

For those of you who celebrate traditional St. Patrick’s Day, we still have great specials going on, but be sure to order by  Friday March 6th to get your shirts by March 17th!

Retail apparel in East Lansing just got a little cooler.

This past weekend saw the unveiling of our newly remodeled East Lansing store location, with a fresh look, more space, and most importantly some seriously sweet retail shirts.  Seizing the opportunity from the MSU licensing office to print retail apparel, Underground Printing is bringing their own unique take on campus collegiate apparel to an already competitive market on Michigan State University’s campus. Visit the store today at 209 MAC Ave, just off of Grand River.

The Designs: The majority of the apparel will focus on MSU officially licensed designs, though some designs unrelated to the University will be available as well. Where we hope to set ourselves apart in the design aspect is bringing a fresh perspective to the typical collegiate t-shirt design.  UGP’s graphic design staff will be creating a number of updates on the classic designs as well as UGP original artwork. Plans are in the works as well to regularly feature MSU student designs, as well as campus and city wide design contests.

The Shirts: While a number of basic t-shirts will always be available at a great price, the store will primarily gear itself toward the newest trends and fashions, offering MSU designs on hot brands like American Apparel and Independent Trading Co.  We want to offer something no one else is carrying, so our customers can have school spirit without sacrificing their sense of style.  Also prominently featured will be a line of sustainable brands, featuring organic cotton, bamboo, and hemp products to name a few.  There is dearth of eco-friendly collegiate apparel on the market, and Underground Printing aims to change that.

The Limited Editions and Hot Market Runs: Controlling our own production and keeping an ever-changing array of inventory on the shelves will let UGP bring new and fresh styles daily and weekly to the store.  We’ll be able to get feedback on trends and public opinion from all of our stores and rush  those styles and designs to our shelves in a matter of days.  Something cool happened on campus? We’ll have a shirt there the next morning for customers to buy.  When a short run style runs out its gone - maybe only 12 or 25 people in the country will have the same design as you and we’ll close the book on it and bring new designs to the table. Why look like everybody else when there’s always a new option to choose from?

We’re very excited about this opportunity. It’s our first fully independent retail venture (our Madison store teamed with Sconnie Nation to carry their apparel in the location on State St on UWs campus) and hope to follow it with more in the future.  If you’re a Spartan fan, definitely go check out the hottness that is UGP retail. And if you’re not but you love UGP, go down there anyway and help support our newest venture!

Inc. Magazine recently compiled their collection of the top college startups in the nation, looking for campus entrepreneurs with unique and outstanding businesses.  Our Ann Arbor location has been printing for one of the nominees, The Bearon started by Caroline Rooney at the University of Michigan.  Don’t know what The Bearon is yet? Not sure how to pronounce it? (Do you wonder what happened to the Oneders?)

The Bearon (a combination of Rooney’s childhood nicknames “Bear” and “Baron”) is a socially conscious clothing line, with each design paired with a non-profit organization. The company donates a portion of the profits from the sale of that item to the cause for which it was created.  This unique inclusion of philanthropy into the heart of the business model sets The Bearon apart from the retail riffraff.  The apparel is available online, and, recently, local retailer Bivouac began carrying one of the designs in their Ann Arbor store.

Check out the Inc. Magazine online article here, and be sure to vote for The Bearon as your favorite college startup!

When you’re in central Illinois, everything is about Honest Abe.  That’s why everyone at our Champaign store is celebrating Lincoln’s 200th birthday on February 12th.  We’ve been lucky enough to partner up with The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois to celebrate this great event. Underground Printing was asked to screenprint 1,500 commemorative shirts for the Lincoln Museum.

On the 12th at 9:30am CST, thousands of Lincoln fans are invited to participate in a simultaneous reading of the Gettysburg Address.   According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the record for most people reading aloud simultaneously is 223,363 participants. What better opportunity to break it then during this exciting period in United States History!  There will be a live webcast held at the museums website, and the shirts UGP has printed will be handed out to kids who attend.  Feel free to register, and celebrate the life of America’s greatest president from Illinois (until now?).

Also, as an aside, our Regional Manager Underground Ryland (who loves to come up with witty blog titles) has come up with the following titles (as well as the actual title of the blog) for your enjoyment:

The Lombardi Trophy once again belongs to the city of Pittsburgh and their beloved Steelers. Sunday night’s victory over the Arizona Cardinals gave the franchise their sixth Superbowl title and second in the last four years. For Underground Printing, that means its Steelers Superbowl shirts time, again, as well.
Reebok has contracted Underground Printing again this year for their hot market NFL apparel for the Superbowl champs and their Terrible Towel waving fans. 25,000 prints will be run of the Superbowl design, distributed later today to retailers around the country. The first few thousand prints were on trucks headed to the Pittsburgh area by 2am, just hours after the game ended. UGP also printed for the Steelers in the AFC Championship two weeks ago, as noted by this blog.
It was  great to be part of the action…we had 30 employees come in at half time to start getting ready.  Everyone was excited and rooting on the Steelers leading up to the final moments of Superbowl XLIII. Underground Printing has been filling orders throughout the week leading up to the Super Bowl as retailers gear up for a huge sales event like the Super Bowl.  In all, the NFL Playoffs and the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Victor has brought over 50,000 prints to Underground Printing.

You can bet our store in Pittsburgh is loving the win right now - stop by our location at 117 Meyran Ave, just off of Forbes, and celebrate the victory with our own resident Steeler fan and local Pittsburgher, Store Manager Joe Dopirak. Just try not to spill beer on the t-shirts. 6-Pack, baby!

The World Food Programme is the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against global hunger.  It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, and it’s newest branch has started in Pittsburgh.  A small group of Pittsburghers have come together with the tagline “Because one hungry child is one too many!”  In only the first few months of activity, WFP – Pittsburgh has already raised thousands of dollars to help feed starving children all over the globe.

Underground Printing was proud to print custom t-shirts for the organization and help raise awareness for such a noteworthy cause.

For more information on the World Food Programme, you can visit their website to see how you can donate your time and money to help combat hunger worldwide.

Jeremy Kochis, a recent grad from the WMU School of Business, finally reached his aspirations of being an Entrepreneur. He had a small idea that came to him while working out in the gym - to create a clothing line that not only inspires to get fit outside of the gym, but also inside of the gym. Jeremy took this opportunity to the next level, first turning it into a business plan and now a full-fledged internet based business, Team Reviver. They started by designing 6 shirts. Each t-shirt design is designed so that the image reads correctly while looking into the gym wall mirrors. The tees express encouraging words like “one more rep” and “get the weakness out”. Reviver currently offers t-shirts only, but will soon carry all sorts of workout apparel. Check out their website at www.teamreviver.com.

-Authored by Kirsten Hortos, UGP Kalamazoo Store Manger

We here at UGP are always looking to lend a helping to any good causes we stumble upon. The Madison, WI area JULES group is definitely no exception. “SOBER…it’s the new black” is the motto of the JULES Group, an area teen sobriety group that formed when Julie Zdeblick, a model student and Middleton High Schol junior with a bright future, died of a drug overdose in 2004.  Members of the JULES Group are just as passionate about having fun as their partying peers, but these savvy teens realize the impact of a sober lifestyle–for them, being sober is not only healthy, it’s cool.  And now, it’s fashionable!

The young voices of the JULES Group have partnered with Underground Printing and the Chris Farley Foundation, which has a parallel mission of developing communications programs that use humor to teach youth audiences about the dangers of substance abuse. We hope you will join us so we can all work together to take a stand and make a statement to our youth that drugs and alcohol are not synonymous with having a good time or being popular. Read the article from the Wisconsin State Journal!

You can purchase a shirt online at www.sconnie.com or at our Madison Store at 521 State Street. Wear it.  Live it.  SOBER….it’s the new black.

This video was taken in our shop this morning as we started screenprinting over 16,000 shirts for the 2009 AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sean loves the Steelers Championship shirts, big hair

It’s Superbowl time for the Steelers again, as they defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 in Sunday’s AFC Championship game. For Underground Printing, that means its Steelers Superbowl shirts time again, and we’re excited to be a part of the action!

Reebok has contracted Underground Printing again this year for their hot market NFL apparel for the AFC and the Pittsburgh Steelers. 16,400 prints will be run of this design, distributed later today to JC Penny’s around the country. UGP has been one of a handful of printers Reebok uses for its speed-to-stores apparel following major sporting events, including the NBA finals since 2003, the last three Superbowls, and last year’s Stanley Cup Finals.

In 2006, UGP printed Steelers Superbowl apparel as well, but this time around it has some added meaning to the company. In the fall of 2008, UGP opened a store location in Pittsburgh on Pitt’s campus. Steeler nation even extended into the production facility, as our own Sean Stayduhar donned a Troy Polamalu (my spell check is angry with me) wig and jersey for this morning’s prints (seen above). We have Steeler-fever around these parts and will be pulling for Roethlisberger (my spell check just melted) and the boys as they take on the Cardinals in Tampa.

UPDATE: A little love from the Ann Arbor News

So this doesn’t really have much to do with shirts (other than all the t-shirt boxes you see in the background), but we felt a responsibility to post this picture for the world to see.

The gentlemen you see below is UGP’s own Brian Lieber, Shop Manager and Shipper Extroardinaire. When Brian orders food, it usually contains only 5 things: Bread, Meat, Cheese, Mayo and Bacon. His love of Mayo spans far and wide, which was confirmed when following the picture he said this: “I licked all the mayo off the candle like frosting”.

Happy Birthday Lieber!