Small Business Sundays: The Social Dept.

The Social Dept. is a local t-shirt company that is located next to HiHo Brewery in Cuyahoga Falls. They officially started under this name in 2011, but the concept began in 2005. I first learned about this place at the Falls Better Block last year. I got an awesome Hike shirt that is now in frequent rotation. Andy Taray is a Grammy-nominated graphic designer and I’m incredibly fond of how clean his work is. In addition to this t-shirt company, he also runs a design studio called Ohio Boy Art & Design. I can’t rave enough about the quality of his t-shirts. All of the shirts I’ve purchased from him have been super soft.

Yesterday, I wanted to get a gift for a friend of mine who used to live in this area and I knew just the place to go. I hadn’t gotten a chance to check out the brick and mortar that recently opened in the last year, so this was my excuse. The place is small, but cute with the women’s, men’s, and children’s shirts separated on different sides of the shop. In the back, you can see their workstation and I learned from the guy running the shop (Sorry, couldn’t remember his name) that they actually do all of their screen printing by hand.

I have to say though, that the coolest part of the shop is the ceiling. They screen printed all of the tiles and I got a chance to check out the frame. Apparently, the pattern is the topography of Cuyahoga Valley Nation Park’s Virginia Kendall Ledges and Lake. The second coolest part of this business is their obsession with Big Foot. He’s everywhere and you can find the story as to why, here.

This is an organization stays authentic to the area and really gets around. The’ve done work for Crafty Mart, The Devil Strip, and HiHo Brewery, located right next door, among other organizations.