A LITTLE ABOUT HOW tim started gulfside custom t-shirts...
The beginning
Gulfside Custom T-Shirts actually started out as Tim's T-Shirts in 1983 at Wagonwheel Fleamarket. There we sold Florida and novelty T-Shirts to the many tourists who came to the Clearwater area. It was a hustle to make a go of it, as there were as many as thirty different T-Shirt vendors there at the time.
As luck would have it in 1984, Fleamasters Flea market opened in Port Richey, which was only 1 mile from home! We moved our business there and opened Memorial Day weekend and started out being the only vendor selling T-Shirts! Sales were great and we did well.
The business started to grow...
Business was growing and we needed more space to print shirts, as we eventually outgrew the size of the patio we were using of our mobile home that we rented from my folks. Later we built a 10' x 12' shed to print in during the week. Not too long after that we built a 16' x 30' garage and became official garage printers!! We later moved from there into the garage of a house we purchased in 1991.
and grow!
In 1995, I moved into a 1000 sq. ft. retail location on US 19. I did it all, printed for the flea market, sold retail, as well as custom printed for customers. In 1995, I took a big step and hired my first full time team member (who still works part time for us now!) and we haven't looked back. We soon grew to a 2000 sq. ft. location next to what was the Breakfast Club, and packed more equipment and people into that shop than it could handle. In 2009, we transitioned into the 5500 sq. ft. shop we still call home today.
A new generation
In 2015, the little girl who sat on my lap at the flea market, helping run the cash register back in the eighties, came to work for me. Michelle, her husband Derek and our hardworking, talented team have transformed us into a well organized, well oiled machine. I really didn't think any of my kids would be interested in the business so this was a great surprise.