It doesn’t even require stepping foot in the door to be enticed by the shop. Sarcastic and witty sayings galore are a delight to anyone with a sense of humor, drawing in customers and daring them to take a look around.
The first glance reveals a nugget of teen humor: _“I Facebooked your mom.”_ Social media AND a mom joke? This place could work. A second glance is necessary: _“After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says WTF.”_ Oh my God. Preach it, T-shirt. Each look brings the eyes a new present. _“I hope I don’t blackout cause this is awesome.”_ _“It’s science. Not applicable in Kansas.”_ _“Hogwarts Alumni.”_
Humorous statements such as these are showcased across the walls and visible through the windows of ACME Hot and Fresh T-shirts, appealing to the young crowds of college students and Columbia natives that pass the downtown shop on a daily basis. It competes to fulfill Columbia’s T-shirt-printing needs with two other businesses in the downtown area, The Flying Cow Shirt Company and Sonshine Productions, as well as Missouri Cotton Exchange and Snow Creek Apparel outside of downtown.
With the bout of spring fever that currently has the Midwest in its fresh, sunny grip, many of the shops are smack in the middle of their busiest time of the year.
“This is the busiest we’ve been in a long time,” says Jordan Roudenis, an assistant manager and graphic designer at ACME. The store specializes in designing shirts for groups, as well as creating shirts for individual purchase.
Roudenis says a combination of the warm weather and the recent occurrence of spring break, in addition to St. Patrick’s Day, have contributed to this spring being hectic. The MU Greek Life community is bringing in quite a bit of business for ACME as well, as sororities and fraternities are lining up their T-shirt designs for the next school year.
Ryan Johnson, a graphic artist at Sonshine Graphics, says the shop’s busiest time is actually not in the spring. In fact, it’s the opposite. The company, he says, works more with Central Methodist University students than it does with MU-affiliated groups.
“Our busiest time of year is around fall and Homecoming,” Johnson says. “We do a lot with the strength and conditioning program for the CMU football team.”
Johnson says, like many of the other stores, Sonshine Graphics provides individual T-shirt designs as well as options for groups. Most of the individual shirts purchased revolve around humor.
“You see more humorous shirts when it’s only one person wanting one,” Johnson says. “We try to be original with our designs. We do some hand-drawn stuff.”
The graphic artists in each store come up with numerous unique designs, but anyone is welcome to embrace his or her own creativity. Customers are encouraged to bring in their own ideas for print. A variety of designs, colors and different shirt styles are offered at each of the five locations, making it simple for customers to achieve the T-shirt of their dreams.
A plain white tee (and no, we don’t mean the band) can become a masterpiece at any of these stores, providing citizens of Columbia with an easy opportunity to update their wardrobes and showcase their unique personalities.