2016 was a banner year for us, both professionally and personally.  It was a year of big decisions and major life changing moments.  Because of that, we had to slow down at times and allow ourselves the time needed to put our family first.  Thankfully, we have amazing customers and vendors who cheered us along as we moved into a new office space, worked in chaos until finally remodeling that space and most importantly, as we took time to welcome our daughter into the world.  We thank you all for your patience and kindness during those times.

We must give notice to those who do so much work behind the scenes for us as well!  Our shirts couldn’t come to life without Tommy of Medium Control, whose dedication to the art of screen printing (among many other things) falls completely in line with our brand.  We also have one particular shirt that requires extra attention and Carli of CRAVE by CRV answers our call every time we need some sewing done.  Her talents far succeed what we ask of her, which only makes us appreciate her all the more.  And we can’t forget those who helped in the office and during special events, making things far more manageable during this busy year.

Duluth is a tourist mecca in the summer and we spend those months keeping our vendor’s shelves stocked with DLH goodies.  We feel so honored that these companies love our products/little business enough to represent us in their shops: Duluth Coffee Company, Electric Fetus, Glensheen, Golly G, Inn on Lake Superior, Little Neetchers, Trailfitters and Whimsy.  A special shoutout to Saffron & Grey for welcoming small businesses like ours to your hosted events throughout the year. Thanks to all of you, for sharing your business with ours, not only in the summer, but all year long!

Although we have engagement with customers in the summer, we have far more of it during the holiday season.  This year we got to host Small Business Saturday in our own space and the turnout surpassed our expectations!  The small business community in Duluth is flourishing  and the number of people wanting to support local businesses is truly inspiring.  We were thrilled being a staple stop for many people along their SBS shopping tour.

And then there was the Duluth Winter Village . . . the most magical of all events!  It’s been a month and we are still humbled by the awesome craziness of that weekend.  The wonderful people of Duluth Loves Local and the planning committee/volunteers of the event created something that embodied so many great things that Duluth has to offer and we feel truly lucky to have been part it.  For us, it opened a door to new customers and a chance to get to know other small business owners better.  It was exciting and exhausting and we were all there in the same boat, giving each other high fives, saying this is CRAZY and having the time of our lives as each new bus pulled up.  We hope to see this event continue for many years to come and encourage you to participate in any way that you can.

For the world as a whole, it was an interesting year – one that many people were excited to leave behind, but our little corner of the world was pretty good to us in 2016 and we just want to say THANK YOU!  In whatever way you have been a part of our company this year, whether it’s putting a decal on your car (trust us, we are excited every time we see one), printing shirts for us, stocking our items in your store, blogger collaborations or simply following us on social media, we thank you and we couldn’t do this without you!

Cheers to a new year and all the exciting things ahead.