Couple have made customer service a priority at screen-printing business

“Oh my word.”

That’s Linda Zwickl’s reaction after counting up the years – nearly 40 – that she and her husband have been in the screen printing business.

It’s how they met and married. And if running a two-person business has meant working lots of late nights and weekends, it’s also led to a lot of close relationships with customers.

“We have a really great core of customers; some of them have been with us almost 25 years,” said Zwickl, who owns Special T’s Screen Printing with her husband, Duane. “Those include schools and churches and sports organizations, and because all of those people are connected with other types of organizations, it kind of expands from there. We get referrals from these types of people all the time.”

The Zwickls met while working for a screen printing company in Hutchinson in the 1970s. They moved up through the company and eventually transferred to a plant in Texas that specialized in printing real estate signs, with Duane serving as production manager and Linda as general manager.

They returned to Kansas in 1984 and took over Special T’s in 1989. They’ve been at their current spot at Lewis and Main for 22 years. The 5,000-square-foot space includes a retail area, production room and warehouse.

Special T’s prints on all kinds of wearable fabrics, from shirts and sweatshirts to hats, uniforms and casual business gear. While much of the business consists of repeat customers, Zwickl said, there are also a lot of one-time event-related printing jobs.

“Around the holidays, like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, we do a ton of family reunion type shirts. And we do a lot of fundraiser type shirts for people doing walks for any number of causes,” she said.

In the couple’s years in business, Zwickl said, “We’ve gone from what I consider the dark ages of screening printing. There are so many advances in equipment and materials. Of course, the creation of computerized artwork is probably one of the biggest. And the automation of the process has made production much more efficient.”

Special T’s tries to set itself apart from competitors through customer service and high-quality materials, Zwickl said. The typical order takes five to seven days.

“We’re not the fastest, but we are reliable. If I tell you it’s going to be ready, it’s going to be ready.”

“Last week,” she added, “I got two calls from people who started off the conversation saying, ‘We ordered shirts from somebody else and they couldn’t get it done.’”

One of the shop’s biggest customers came as a result of the Zwickls’ love of music.

Special T’s now prints shirts and hats for the singing group Straight No Chaser, which will perform at Century II on Oct. 30 as part of a North American and European tour. The a cappella group, perhaps best known for its rendition of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” last year released an album featuring appearances by Elton John, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder and others.

“We were actually fans before they were customers,” Zwickl said. “We pestered their merchandise guy. He called us one winter and they changed suppliers.”

Thanks to that connection, Special T’s has also started producing merchandise for the country band Home Free.

The Zwickls were headed out of town this week to catch shows by Straight No Chaser in Manhattan, Kan., and Kansas City, and for sure they will be in the crowd at Century II.

“We do get good seats, yes we do,” Zwickl said. “They take good care of us, and we reciprocate. I can’t tell you how fabulous it’s been.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2014 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Couple have made customer service a priority at screen-printing business."