Today we’d like to introduce you to Steph Fretwell.
Hi Steph, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Minor Threads Apparel began our journey as a lone punk and a dream. With nothing more to offer than his time, Joe started Minor Threads in 2017 by working out of other screenprint shops after hours to begin to build our empire. Always the misfit, Joe began to gather customers by word of mouth for being willing to work with artists to realize their visions. At Minor Threads, we do not care to turn anyone away even if we cannot help with a project ourselves. “We know a guy” is usually the answer we give to folks if a particular order isn’t in our wheelhouse. We are also very excited to try printing projects that we’ve never done before. Things do not always work out as we expect them to, but that does not discourage us from experimenting. Joe has worked at a few different screen-printing companies across the country and is active in many online printing communities and always looking for new and exciting ways to print.
Along the way, I stepped in and started to lend a hand to my friend with his after-hours screen printing. I was not trying to become a major part of Minor Threads, but as business started to escalate, I found myself helping more and more. In January of 2019, Joe sat me down and asked, “Steph, would you like to help me with Minor Threads OFFICIALLY?”. He made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse, which was to become part-owner of a growing PUNK print company for nothing more than my time and effort. No contest, I was all in.
As far as equipment goes, we started from the bottom and have worked our way up with lots more potential in our future for growth. We began with a rinky-dink single screen tabletop press that Joe had to hold up with his head while loading and unloading shirts. Our first conveyor dryer was built in the 1970s and looked like a prop from Star Trek, but it worked. Every time that we got a little money in the bank, we would upgrade what we could. We have upgraded most of our equipment more than once. You can usually catch us at trade shows checking out different equipment suppliers and garment vendors talking to as many people as we can getting information about what we will be investing in next. This is also the place to go to find people who can help you in your screen printing ventures. Whether you have questions about which chemicals to use and when to how to finance a $250,000 automatic screen-printing machine, this is the place to rub elbows and get answers. If you’re ever out at these trade shows, look for a couple of weirdos asking a whole lot of questions and come say hi!
As of December 2021, Minor Threads has placed a bid on a brick and mortar building AND WON. We’ve gone from working after hours at friends’ shops to completely overtaking and operating out of Joe’s home and garage to signing contracts on a space that will put Minor Threads out into the world as an ACTUAL STORE. Stay tuned, our weirdo community is rapidly expanding!!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been rocky, that’s for certain. The Covid pandemic affected many aspects of operations at Minor Threads. Namely, we stopped having orders come in as all the businesses in our area went on hiatus. Garment availability is still spotty across the nation. Joe and I also lost our full-time day jobs to company Covid layoffs, which was financially difficult but ultimately did allow us to focus more of our time on Minor Threads.
We’ve been impressed with Minor Threads, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Minor Threads makes rad merch for rad folks. We love to work with artists and bands in realizing their visions and providing the quality of merch that we would want for ourselves. Shirts, stickers, hats, anything that you want your name or logo on, we can make it happen. We care about what you want as a customer. If you’re not happy, then neither are we. We aim to make friends wherever we can, and every customer is a new opportunity to expand our community of weirdos.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
2021 ended with many doors opening up for Minor Threads to grow. We just signed a contract on our first brick and mortar building and will be setting up a retail store in Pottsboro, Tx. Our property is perfect for hosting outdoor vendor pop-up events and live music shows. We plan to have an art gallery space in the store and eventually offer classes on screen printing and tie-dyeing. In the next few years, we plan to upgrade our press equipment again and bring on a couple more employees for production. Our hope is to build a local community for artists and art appreciation.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.minorthreadsco.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/minorthreadsco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MinorThreadsMerch
- Other: minorthreads.shop
Image Credits:
DJB Productions
