Buffalo’s t-shirt industry has another friend

T-shirts are the new chicken wing.  That’s a thought that only means something in Buffalo, for sure.  It also means that the same reasons for which we take pride in our various claims to fame—the wing, the Bills, the snow, all of that stuff—we also show that pride off.  We talk Buffalo up, we write Buffalo up (in Block Club Magazine, but of course), we support Buffalo business...sometimes we even start our own Buffalo-related businesses.

That is the idea behind the many t-shirt companies that have sprouted up around town over the last few years and decades.  You have some with stores, like Tom Rooney’s Pavlov’s Togs on Elmwood and Michael Morgulis’s New Buffalo Graphics on Hertel Avenue; you have some that supply local stores, like Tony Maggiotto’s CityLove Clothing and CelebrateBuffalo’s sports-themed shirts; and now we have one online with Buffalo T-Shirts (at bflotees.com).  (Forgive me if I may have left any out.)

The owner of this new site, which looks impressive and very legitimate for such a newfound company, is Dave Courtney.  Dave is a local graphic designer whose work you’ve surely seen around town.  His design of the Buffalo First logo and artwork is featured prominently in locally owned stores who belong to the Buffalo business organization, and he has done a lot of advertising and graphic design with Courtney Creative.  He’s also a super nice guy.

Buffalo T-shirts already has three shirt designs available for purchase for men and women, sizes S-XXL.  They are fun, have a bit of vintage flair, and are original to Dave Courtney.  All t-shirts are American Apparel, which means they’re colorful and high-quality.  Here are the first three available designs:

More will come from the winners of user-voted contests that will take place on the Web site.  In an e-mail, Courtney said of the contest: It’ll be modelled a bit like threadless.com or shirt.woot.com. I’ll create a poll/survey and open it up for a week or so. We’ll have 3 designs to choose from and there may be an option to prepay for the winning shirt at a lower price, or voters will get some other type of discount. Give the consumer a voice in the matter.

Sounds exciting!  I can’t wait to get voting and buying.  These shirts, along with the many other locally designed and produced shirts, are an awesome way of showing off your Buffalo pride without having to plaster your card with bumper stickers.  They also support local artists and business.  It’s super duper fun all around!

Posted by on 09/17 at 11:26 AM