Bandwagon Merch

You hear about this type of company every so often – like the tech companies that have an arcade in the break room and nap time for all employees. It’s the type of place that just sounds like they “get it.” They respect their employees, produce a first-rate product, and know that if they do business the right way, the company will thrive. You get that feeling when you talk to Ryan Hetu, co-owner of Bandwagon Merch. It takes some prying to get him to brag on his company, but when he talks about the way they do business, the facts do the bragging for him.

Bandwagon is a locally-owned printing company, located in Kansas City, Missouri. Ryan Hetu and Ryan Beye have worked in the screen-printing business for years, but in 2007 they decided to start their own company, and Bandwagon was born. Both are music buffs, and they wanted to cater to the market of printing T-shirts for bands and concerts, so the name “Bandwagon” made perfect sense. Today they do business not only across the U.S., but worldwide (Europe and Australia, for example). They don’t exactly fit the mold of international company, though. There are nine people on the payroll at Bandwagon, and that’s the way they like it. “We don’t mind being smaller, like a family business. We’d rather employ good people and treat them well than to just have a bunch of people doing cheap labor,” Hetu said. Hetu added that as a result, the company has even been able to thrive in the tough economic environment of the past couple years. “We pride ourselves on being a debt-free company, so we’re still doing well in this recession.”

Bandwagon prints more than just band T-shirts. They print on just about any type of “wearable” that you can think of – headbands, wristbands, hoodies, etc., supplying clothing to multiple well-respected and trendy clothing stores. ‘Which ones?’ you ask. Again, they didn’t want to brag, but I’ll just say—it’s the good ones.  They also do flat stock printing, meaning they can print things like stickers, labels, plates, and signs. If you’ve spent any amount of time around KU Med Center, you’ve probably seen some of their handiwork. Whenever student organizations and groups around campus need quality printing at great prices, they turn to Bandwagon.
 

Given their love of music (Hetu is also the manager for JayRock5 band, THIEVES) and their commitment to the Kansas City community, Bandwagon was an easy choice to print JayRock5 T-shirts and promotional cards. But at its heart, JayRock Concert is a fundraiser, and we're only charging $10 for the shirts (look for them at Uptown on Friday!), so we literally could not have raised money through shirt sales if not for the good people at Bandwagon.

Intrigued? Check them out for yourself at BandwagonMerch.com... and be expecting a new and improved website coming March 2010.


Again, many thanks to Bandwagon Merchandise for the amazing work they did to help JayRock5 raise money for JayDoc Free Clinic!