Wells County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development issued the following announcement on March 16.
Team Mantra Wear Holds Ribbon Cutting for New Location
The Wells County Chamber of Commerce staff and Ambassadors officially welcomed Team Mantra Wear with a Ribbon Cutting celebration on March 10, 2022. Team Mantra is now located at 979 North Main Street in Bluffton.
Team Mantra Wear opened their doors on Oak Forest Drive in 2014 with a vision to bring school spirit, company unity and brand awareness to the Wells County community. The business started small with just two full time employees, but knew the company needed to add a sales person to get the Team Mantra Wear name in front of potential customers. Kyle Johnloz joined the company as a shareholder with the priority of sales and growing the business.
“I graduated with a degree in Business Management and Entrepreneurship,” said Johnloz. “I knew I wanted to own a business, but wasn’t sure in what capacity and certainly didn’t think it would in the apparel business. However, I wanted to be a leader in a company, set my own schedule, and when this opportunity arose, I jumped in.”
Johnloz spent time helping to grow the business contacting every Athletic Director, Principal, and school within a 100-mile radius. “I spent most of my time cold calling, knocking on doors, and traveling grow the company in a way we could,” explained Johnloz.
The efforts paid off and the company continued to out-grow their space on Forest Drive. Johnloz explained that if customers are treated well, go above and beyond, they will come back year after year. As the demand and growth of the company continued, Team Mantra Wear added Chad Ringger to the team to take over running and operating the business.
As space became an issue, the team started to look at opportunities within Wells County for a larger location. “We wanted to be a staple on State Road 1,” said Johnloz. “When this location became available, Chad and Brande Ringger had the vison to turn the former animal clinic into a screen-printing and embroidery company, in addition to adding a building for equipment and a production line. We officially started screen-printing March 1, 2021; however, it has taken the year to get everything in place with remodeling.”
The screen-printing process is very intricate as ink is pressed through a mesh screen to create a printed design. T-shirt designs with multiple colors go through the layered process each time. “Due to the time and ink, we request a minimum order of 12 shirts because it is more cost effective for the customer,” stated Johnloz. “The embroidery machines can stitch one at a time therefore, there is no minimum order.”
Johnloz explained that he really appreciates the loyalty in Wells County. “All of our employees live in the area and have ties to Wells County. I love the small town, and this is a great place to raise a family. People who order from Team Mantra Wear know they are supporting local, and we really appreciate the support.”
Team Mantra Wear has an online store year-round for Norwell and Bluffton with a variety of options to choose from. “The website to find custom ordered apparel is https://linktr.ee/teammantrawear. We are extremely grateful for the partnership we have with the local schools that allow us the opportunity to print their apparel,” said Johnloz.
Team Mantra Wear serves nonprofits, events such as 5k’s, churches, businesses, and schools. “People wear apparel every day and if we can help advertise their company logo or one they are passionate about, we are here to help market that information,” concludes Johnloz.
Pictured in the photo cutting the ribbon are Brande and Chad Ringger, Kyle and Hillary Johnloz and family.
Original source can be found here.