Glass Wear spreads Toledo love through T-shirts
Written by Sarah Ottney | Managing Editor | sottney@toledofreepress.comThe roots of Toledo love and pride run deep in Glass City natives Tim Marshall and Brandon Erickson. The two friends recently launched a company called Glass Wear to spread their sentiments through T-shirts.
The pair offers 13 designs available in 10 colors in both men’s and women’s cuts. They also offer baseball tees, hoodies, children’s T-shirts, onesies, buttons and plan to have stickers soon.
Their first and most popular design, called The Roots, features the Toledo skyline with roots growing into the ground.
“That’s the shirt everyone wants the most,” Marshall said.
Other designs include It’s Always Fine in the 419, I [Ohio outline] Toledo, I [bicycle] Toledo, Toledo Hustles Harder, Made in Toledo, Rise Up Toledo!, Toledo: The Heartbeat of the Midbest, Meet Me On Adams and T*O*L*E*D*O*S F*I*N*E*S*T, featuring an image of Jamie Farr.
Glass Wear is also the exclusive carrier of Toledo Pub Riders (Ride Drink Repeat) and Glass City Pedicabs (Stop Walking, Ride Local) shirts.
“You can only get their shirts through us, which is kind of cool,” Marshall said. “They really helped us get started. They have the same vision and ideas we have with trying to make the city better.”
Maxwell Austin, owner of Glass City Pedicabs, called the partnership win-win.
Brandon Erickson, left, and Tim Marshall of Glass Wear.
“I noticed this new company called Glass Wear on Facebook and said, ‘Hey, you just started, I just started, you’re local, I’m local. How about we get together?’” Austin said. “I don’t have a lot of money to print off 100 T-shirts. This way, they get the proceeds and have the exclusivity for anyone who wants a Glass City Pedicabs shirt and I get free advertising out there. It’s just kismet the way it worked out.”
“You can say, ‘I really like The Roots shirt, but I want it on hot pink,’ and we can do it for you right on the spot,” Marshall said. “We let you make it yours and give you more ownership.”
The pair will host an official launch party 7 p.m. to midnight April 13 at The Attic on Adams, 1701 Adams St., above Manos Greek Restaurant in Downtown Toledo. The event will feature a three-for-$50 deal on T-shirts.
There is also a bring-your-own shirt option. The company will give $1.50 from each shirt sold to a local community partner in need.
“We’re still figuring out who that’s going to be and how we’re going to elect that. We might do someone different every month,” Marshall said. “My mom was a day care teacher at a homeless shelter so I have a soft spot for that community. We might just go buy food and give it away. Either way we’re going to give back that money because it’s important to us.”
They hope the buzz helps.
“The response has been great online,” Marshall said. “In three or four weeks, we had 200 people liking it and traffic going up every day. So hopefully that buzz will continue.”
Marshall, who graduated from Whitmer High School, and Erickson, who graduated from Perrysburg High School, said their ideas come from friends and casual brainstorming sessions at local coffeehouses. They plan to set up shop at local festivals and events, such as Art Walks.
They said they chose to focus on Toledo shirts because they love the city and want others to love it as much as they do.
“So many people get down on Toledo,” Erickson added. “There’s a lot of great stuff here and we just want to spread the positivity.”
“It’s just home. How do you describe home? It’s just that feeling you get,” Marshall said. “When I’m here, I feel like it’s where I’m supposed to be.”
For more information, visit Facebook.com/GlassWear, email glasswear419@yahoo.com or call (419) 450-9982.
Tags: Attic on Adams, Brandon Erickson, Glass City Pedicabs, Glass Wear, Jamie Farr, Perrysburg High School, Tim Marshall, Whitmer HIgh School
