Uptown Screen Printing in Battle Ground will hold a grand opening for its new storefront next door, Uptown Clothing Company, on Sept. 15.
Shop manager, Tracie Grant, said people can purchase a blank shirt or bring their own and they can watch the design be printed on it at the store.
“We’ll have face painting for the kiddos, we’ve got live music, we’re going to block off our little parking lot here,” Grant said. “Every last square inch of real estate here in the parking lot is sought after, so we’re going to scoop up a ton of it and have some food and beverages, and have people come down and really understand more of what our shop is about.”
She said they will also have over 100 screen print transfers people can choose from if they don’t want the default custom Battle Ground shirt design.
“(Uptown Screen Printing) started two years ago and Jamie (Young) opened Uptown Screen Printing, and then we just basically merged into the office space next door to our screen printing shop,” Grant said. “We actually blew a hole out in the wall and came over to the other side in order to give us more space for our production screen printing company and opened Uptown Clothing Company because we had clients who were asking for very small ordered custom shirts and apparel and gifts.”
On the production side, Grant said they require a larger minimum number of items for orders, so the new storefront was started to mitigate that.
“We were like, ‘well, we need this new space, and it’s a ton of space, so why not have it become a clothing company and utilize our space for what our clients are really asking for,’” she said.
At Uptown, Grant said they have instant print, which puts ink onto transfer paper and then applies heat. It allows people to “get a ton of great prints” quickly. She compares it to Build-A-Bear workshop. People can choose over 100 designs that can be printed on T-shirts, flannels, hoodies or tank-tops.
“(It’s) super quick, super easy, and customized so it’s on the shirt style that you want, the shirt color that you want, and the shirt print design that you want,” Grant said.
In terms of designs, she said the store tries to cater to “a little bit of everybody.” For example, they have a local “Battle Ground patriots” print which is worn by a lot of the veterans in the area. They also have designs for children and prints that appeal to local realtors or construction crews.
She thinks the new store will provide a great benefit to the community.
“I think it’s just a great place for people,” Grant said. “We’ve already had a lot of traction of people saying that they loved that they can come get something custom and support a local business. So I think it gives people the opportunity to have a custom shirt with something that is important to them, that makes sense to them, and they get to stylize it themselves instead of just walking into a retail space and purchasing something that’s already mass-produced.”
The event will feature live music. Food and beverages will also be provided by the staff in-house. She said they will serve light appetizers and drinks. The first 50 attendees will receive a free swag bag upon entry.
The grand opening will be held at 713 W. Main St., Suite 107, Battle Ground. It will run from 2 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 15. The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and live music will be played from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
