HASLETT - Just like college students like to support their university by wearing its apparel and school colors, local residents like to do the same. While schools like Michigan State University and University of Michigan have an abundance of t-shirt shops, Haslett was lacking one until Kim Wolbrink and Denise Applegate-Wolbrink co-founded T-Shirt Goods in 2011.

While its new name might not sound familiar, its owners, products and community-like atmosphere are well-known to local residents. Once known as Haslett Spirit, Wolbrink and Applegate-Wolbrink renamed their business so it would attract more people from surrounding communities – not just Haslett residents.

“We had a lot of people that just thought we only did Haslett apparel, or some people actually thought we were a church,” Applegate-Wolbrink said. “I think because we’ve also started getting a lot of business from surrounding schools and businesses, we thought we would change it to a name that basically said what we did."

Their business has come a long way since the days of working out of their house. On August 17, Applegate-Wolbrink and Wolbrink celebrated T-Shirt Goods’ new location at 1561 Haslett Road in Haslett with a ribbon cutting ceremony surrounded by family, friends, customers and members from the Meridian Area Business Association and the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re so grateful to the community because we wouldn’t be here in this new spot without their support,” Wolbrink said.

T-Shirt Goods sells more than just t-shirts, however; it sells t-shirts, hats, sweatpants, athletic shorts, sweatshirts and more. While items with “Haslett Vikings” written on them are a common find, T-Shirt Goods creates custom apparel for just about anything, including businesses.

Unlike many businesses, T-Shirt Goods doesn’t keep all of the profit for itself.

“With every order that we do, we give back to the community,” Applegate-Wolbrink said. “We either give to the food bank or we give back to the organization that orders the shirts.”

“Or a charity of their choice,” Wolbrink said.

The co-owners have donated a percentage of every purchase since their business first opened because they thought it "was important to give back as much as [we] possibly can – to offer a service that’s kind of a win-win-win,” Applegate-Wolbrink said.

“We make some money and the people get their apparel for a reasonable price and then we can donate money as well," Applegate-Wolbrink said.

The co-owners are excited about their business’ new location because it offers more space in terms of square feet and parking, and it’s also more visible to the eye.

Besides expanding the size of their business, Applegate-Wolbrink and Wolbrink are preparing to launch their website so people can get more information about T-Shirt Goods; they hope it will also include a t-shirt design feature so people can “design their own shirts,” Applegate-Wolbrink said.

Until then, people can find more information abut T-Shirt Goods on its Facebook page, Haslett Spirit.