Custom Products Made Easy by Student’s Small Business

Fair Grove senior, Paige Robinson, took initiative and started her own business, McKinley Marketplace, in November of 2020. 

“I decided to start it because I wanted to make money but needed a flexible schedule as I was involved in sports,” Robinson explained. McKinley Marketplace custom prints designs onto just about anything one could need. “I currently only offer custom clothing, however, I have offered custom tumblers, jewelry, signs, and blankets in the past,” she said. “What I offer just depends on how busy I am at that time in the year.”

Many designs are offered as well, the Instagram page for McKinley Marketplace displays apparel featuring school sports team logos, sayings and quotes, and even logos for brands such as Nike. “Everything is completely custom to your needs/wants,” Robinson described, “I offer many designs, almost any design you send to me I can do!” 

McKinley Marketplace designed the shirts for Fair Grove’s Student Council this year, a great example of the versatility of designs offered.

Robinson described her detail-oriented process of transferring customers’ designs onto their desired products. “The process of making shirts is the most complicated thing,” she said, “I have a Cricut that I use to cut my designs onto heat transfer vinyl. I then do a process called “weeding” that takes away the extra vinyl not included in the design. After the cutting and weeding is done, I can then line up the design on the shirt using a t-shirt ruler. I place parchment paper over the design to eliminate scorching while I heat press at 350 F. I normally heat press for about 15 seconds and go over it one more time to make sure everything has transferred properly. I let the design cool and prepare the order for delivery.”

Rayann Hupman (11), is a frequent buyer from McKinley Marketplace, and she gave a short review of some of the products she has ordered. “A few items that I have ordered from McKinley Marketplace are many crewnecks, sweatpants, multiple shirts, and lots of jewelry. The time frame that it takes to receive an item just depends on what you order. If you order something she doesn’t have the supplies for at the moment then you would have to wait until she orders it from her seller, then customizes it to whatever design you had wanted on it, then she will deliver it to you.”

Hupman continued, “The quality of her items is the same as any “big” brand. She invests in items that will promote that her business is worth what you’re paying and that is better than going to a larger company.” Rayann also commended the ability to customize your products, “Her custom designs truly are custom! You get to pick what goes on them and the color of it as well.”

Finally, Rayann Hupman commented on why buying from businesses like McKinley Marketplace is important to her. “I choose to order from McKinley Marketplace because I would rather support a small business instead of giving some large corporation my money.”

Be sure to check for upcoming deals and available products on McKinley Marketplace’s Instagram page.