By Chris Brown

Businesses looking out for each other

Tiki Press has a Wish to help fellow area businesses

May 4, 2020 | 3:03 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A simple wish from Amy Gervais and Jeff Barrett has turned into so much more.

The owners of screen printing and embroidery shop Tiki Press have launched Wish You Were Here, which sees the Tiki Press crew print shirts with hand-drawn logos of local businesses and sell them on their website for $25 each.

The businesses get 50 per cent of the purchase price of their shirts to do whatever they want with. Some are using the money to help fund their operations and some are donating the money to charity.

“It’s an effort to show local businesses that we still care even though we can’t support them in the way we used to or visit their stores,” said Gervais. “Lots and lots of people reaching out to us that are interested and a lot of them want to give their amount, their donations to charity so there’s lot’s of good being done from it. I think we’re over 500 shirts so far so it’s been quite successful.”

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Gervais said they started by reaching out to their current customers and one of the first to say yes was Mike’s Meats.

“As soon as we got the email saying they were launching this we pretty much said ‘absolutely, we’re on board,’” said manager Mark Steiner. “It helps support another local business and friends and it helps many other local businesses in town, too.”

Mike’s Meats, which has been reduced to curbside pickups and has lost much of its catering for the summer, is donating proceeds from its shirt sales to Phoenix Safe House.

Deliveries have been made all over town and orders are coming in from across Canada, said Gervais.

There are 19 shirts available now and a backlog of others that Tiki Press is working to get online as soon as possible.

Hell’s Basement Brewery, Pet Park Boarding Kennel and Red Velvet Hair & Body Bar are just a few of the other shirts available now.

“We’d like to thank the community for their support so far and hope that they keep checking back to see if another business that they also love and want to support appears on there and they can always buy again,” said Gervais.