As the reality and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic began to set in; as schools, restaurants, and office buildings closed, Dave Quigley realized he would need to be creative to keep his business alive.
Quigley, of Lowell, has owned and operated Noreast Custom Apparel, a design, screen printing and embroidery shop, since 2003. The small business has been the go-to apparel shop for many of the region’s businesses, non-profits, and community events.
“Dave was trying to figure out a way for us to stay open and at the same time help everyone else in our community,” said his wife and co-worker, Rotana Quigley.
“I wanted to do something focused on helping especially the service industry – restaurants and bars, because they are what make Downtown Lowell so awesome,” said Dave Quigley.
The Pandemic Response Team was born.
The plan was to produce T-shirts emblazoned with the logos of local businesses and sell them for $17, with $10 going to the featured business and $7 covering material and labor cost. They hoped to raise $25,000 for local small businesses.
Having produced T-shirts for dozens of events, including the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, they had many of the logos for restaurants and other businesses that had sponsored these events on file.
Dave Quigley began reaching out to business owners, but found it was difficult to get in touch with people as they too scrambled to figure out how to not lose their businesses as things began shutting down.
The Quigleys decided to just go into production and ask for forgiveness later if anyone balked (spoiler: no one did).
Sales started off slow, but then as word got out and more businesses clamored to get on board, things really snowballed.
“The momentum was crazy,” said Dave Quigley.
Soon the Quigleys and their two employees, Linda Medlin and Matt Drago, were working 18-hour days to keep up with the demand.
In the end, 56 small businesses were featured on T-shirts, with the biggest seller being The Old Court Irish pub in Downtown Lowell. Orders were coming in from Texas, Seattle, California.
“We were able to raise more than $35,000 for local businesses, to help them stay in business and take care of their employees,” said Rotana Quigley.
“It is the most satisfying and gratifying work we ever did,” said Dave Quigley.
On October 27, Noreast Custom Apparel will be recognized by the Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus during its 5th Annual Manufacturing Awards Ceremony.
