The Thread Lab has opened a storefront on Main Street in Buckhannon, making it easier to order personalized, custom-embroidered clothing.
The local business initially focused on sports uniforms, then expanded into corporate apparel and other custom items. The new retail location features some of its recent work, including B-U hoodies, shirts and plenty of other options.
Ashley Marple, general manager for The Thread Lab, said they held a soft opening on Dec. 12 and plan to schedule an official grand opening after the holidays.
“We started out about a year and a half ago, and it started with sports uniforms. We have a travel organization for baseball and softball here in the community, and we just got tired of junky stuff, so we said, ‘You know what? We can do this better,’” Marple said. “That’s how it really started, and it took off in a big way because we know a lot of people here. So we started doing a lot of other uniforms — we do a lot for the high school, do some for the middle school and a ton of surrounding counties.”
Later, local businesses discovered The Thread Lab and wanted custom clothing and other items for their employees.
“People started to find us and said, ‘I need polos for my company, can you do those? I need jackets, can you do those?’ And it just spiraled,” Marple said. “Custom embroidery is one of our big things. We’re particular about it — we want to make sure what’s going out is what should be going out.”
The Thread Lab’s custom creations can normally be made in about six to seven days.
“We try to be pretty quick about things like that, depending on what it is. We’re down here hoping you pop in, you see something you like, or, if not, we can help you get what you want,” Marple said. “I do a ton of rhinestone, glitter, foil and all the fun things, and that started with the cheer program. I used to cheer, so it was always an interest.
One fun addition to the retail store is a “design your own shirt” section.
“I have a ‘create your own thing’ section that will change probably monthly,” Marple said. “You can come in, you can pick a shirt, tee, crew, hoodie, long sleeve — whatever — pick a design, and we’ll make it while you’re here.”
The Thread Lab also offers personalized hats and many other apparel items.
“Hats are a big thing. We embroider our hats at our other location, so if you come in and you see our hats, we literally made those,” Marple said. “We also have scarves. I do blankets, I’ve done sports bras — I think the only thing I haven’t done is socks. We’re not really limited to what we can do right now. A popular choice right now is beanies — a lot of businesses are wanting beanies for their employees.”
The Thread Lab allows customers to place small or large orders.
“We do anything from one shirt to 500 shirts, which is nice, because a lot of places don’t offer that. Also, we have such a variety of vendors we are linked up with, so if you come in and you tell us you need a t-shirt but can’t really spend that much on it, I can put you in something,” Marple said. “You can also come in and say, ‘Hey, I need a North Face hoodie,’ and I can put you in a North Face hoodie. So we have this broad spectrum of apparel we can get.”
The new storefront will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We are on every social media platform — Facebook, Instagram — we have a website, it is the thethreadlabwv.com, and you can go on any of those and shoot me a message.”
Marple also invited people to give her a call at 304-940-2264.
“People are more than welcome to call me, shoot me a message, get on the website — just let me know you need something, and we can start the process there,” she said.
