Trendy Topics

Name

Trendy Topics

Legal name

Trendy Topics

Website

https://trendytopicschicago.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Apparel Printing

NAICS

Printing (32311), Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (45942)

SIC

Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600), Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130)

akta.pro primary industry

Sportswear Customization & Printing Retail (CRAMACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Streetwear & Contemporary Apparel Retail (CRAAABAM), Workwear, Uniforms & Corporate Apparel Wholesale (CRAOADAF), Branded Merchandise & Promotional Apparel Wholesale (CRAOADAI)

Keywords

• Custom apparel printing
• Screen printing services
• School uniform supply
• Custom t-shirts
• Garment decoration

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Custom Apparel Sales: One-time sale of custom-printed t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, hats, uniforms, and accessories. Products sold through e-commerce storefront, school store portals, and physical retail location. Same-day service available for in-stock items.
2. Custom Printing Services: B2B custom printing for schools, businesses, and organizations. Minimum order of 1 custom piece or 20 screen printed pieces. Payment terms include 50% upfront and 50% upon fulfillment.
3. Design Consulting: Expert advice on creating visually compelling and brand-coherent designs, helping clients develop or enhance their visual identity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Trendy Topics is a Chicago-based custom apparel printing business that prints and decorates t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, hats, uniforms, and accessories in-house using multiple techniques including vinyl printing, plastisol screen printing, DTF, DTG, embroidery, and sublimation. The company sells ready-to-go designed Chicago-heritage and cultural-themed apparel through its own e-commerce site and walk-in retail location, and operates dedicated online school uniform stores for 18+ Chicago area schools with monthly bulk fulfillment. It also provides custom contract printing services to businesses, construction companies, high-end labels, and national brands, along with design consulting.

Product overview

Trendy Topics is a Chicago-based custom t-shirt printing company offering a combination of ready-to-go designed apparel and custom printing services. The product portfolio consists of two main categories: (1) Ready-to-Go Designs including themed t-shirts (Chicago Irish/Patricks Day, Polish heritage, police support, and various social message shirts) priced from $14.99-$34.99, and pullover/zipper hoodies; and (2) School Store Programs providing custom uniform catalogs for multiple Chicago public and private schools including Reilly School (Roadrunners), Reinberg School (Rockets), St. Genevieve, and St. Robert Bellarmine (Bruins), offering gym shirts, polo shirts, shorts, joggers, crewneck sweaters, hoodies, and fleece jackets. The company provides in-house printing using six techniques: Vinyl Printing, Plastisol screen printing, DTF (Direct to Film), DTG (Direct to Garment), Embroidery, and Sublimation. Additional services include Design Consulting and Custom Printing for both individual and bulk orders with same-day service available.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom T-Shirt and Apparel Printing Service Core in-house custom printing service for t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, hats, uniforms, and accessories, supporting both individual and bulk orders using vinyl, plastisol, DTF, DTG, embroidery, and sublimation techniques, with same-day walk-in service available.
• Printing Techniques Service Standalone decoration capability offering six printing methods — Vinyl Printing for bold graphic designs, Plastisol Screen Printing for vibrant durable designs, DTF (Direct to Film) for heat-transfer versatility across fabrics, DTG (Direct to Garment) for detailed colorful designs, Embroidery for raised textured logos and monograms, and Sublimation for vibrant full-color imagery on synthetic fabrics. All production is performed in-house.
• Custom Contract Printing (B2B) B2B custom printing service for organizations, with minimums of 1 custom piece or 20 screen-printed pieces. Orders are placed via work order form with 50% payment upfront and 50% on fulfillment, and bulk school orders are placed monthly with delivery scheduled for the 15th-16th of the following month.
• Design Consulting Expert design advisory service helping clients create visually compelling and brand-coherent apparel designs, develop visual identity, and refine artwork for printing production.
• Chicago School Uniform and Spirit Wear Programs Recurring uniform and spirit wear program operating dedicated online school store portals for Chicago area schools including Belmont-Cragin, Burbank, Corkery, Little Village Academy, JC Locke, Marvin Camras, Mary Lyon, McCormick, Nash, Northwest Middle, Patrick Henry, Portage Park, Reilly (Roadrunners), Reinberg (Rockets), St. Genevieve, and St. Robert Bellarmine (Bruins). Programs include gym t-shirts, polo shirts, shorts, joggers, crewneck sweaters, pull-over and zipper hoodies, and fleece jackets, with monthly bulk ordering and delivery on the 15th-16th of the following month.
• Ready-to-Go Designed Apparel Pre-designed apparel catalog of t-shirts, raglans, pullover hoodies, and zipper hoodies themed around Chicago heritage, Irish, Polish, Italian, Ukrainian, and other cultural identities, as well as community and cause-related designs. Available through the e-commerce storefront and walk-in retail, priced $14.99-$34.99.

Quantifiable outcome

• Same-day service for walk-in customers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Chicago Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial approved vendor for Chicago Public Schools district, providing school uniforms and spirit wear to 18+ Chicago area schools including Belmont-Cragin, Burbank, Corkery, Little Village Academy, JC Locke, Marvin Camras, Mary Lyon, McCormick, Nash, Northwest Middle, Patrick Henry, Portage Park, Reilly, Reinberg, St. Genevieve, and St. Robert Bellarmine.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Printful: Printful is a print-on-demand and fulfillment platform for custom apparel and accessories — an emerging peer targeting creators and SMBs with no minimums, competing with Trendy Topics' small-order custom printing service from an online-only model.
• Spreadshirt: Spreadshirt is a custom apparel and print-on-demand platform enabling individuals and businesses to design and sell custom clothing — a niche/online peer with overlapping custom t-shirt capabilities for individuals and SMB customers.
• CafePress: CafePress is an online retailer of custom-printed apparel, gifts, and accessories — an emerging peer with overlapping custom-printed apparel merchandise targeting individual consumers and gift buyers.

Direct peers

• CustomInk: CustomInk is a leading online custom apparel printing company serving groups, teams, businesses, and individuals across the US — the closest direct competitor to Trendy Topics' custom t-shirt, hoodie, and uniform printing offering, differing mainly by operating at national scale rather than a single Chicago shop.
• Underground Printing: Underground Printing is a regional custom apparel printer (originally Ann Arbor, MI) operating multiple production locations and serving schools, Greek life, and brands — directly comparable to Trendy Topics' school uniform/spirit-wear and custom apparel model, but at multi-location regional scale.
• RushOrderTees: RushOrderTees is an online custom apparel printer specializing in screen printing, embroidery, and digital decoration for businesses, schools, and events — a direct peer to Trendy Topics across the same decoration techniques and customer segments (schools, brands, groups).
• Broken Arrow Wear: Broken Arrow Wear is a full-service custom screen printing and embroidery shop serving schools, businesses, and organizations — a direct peer in the same custom apparel decoration niche, sharing the school uniform and B2B workwear customer mix.

Regional players

• Threads Custom Apparel: Threads Custom Apparel is a regional custom screen printing and embroidery shop — a comparable small-format custom apparel printer operating outside the Chicago market, useful as a regional benchmark for single-shop printing business economics.

Broad incumbents

• Vistaprint (Cimpress): Vistaprint/Cimpress is a large incumbent printing platform offering custom apparel, signage, and marketing materials to SMBs — competing with Trendy Topics for small-business branded merchandise budgets but operating at massive scale and as part of a broader print portfolio.
• Lands' End Business Outfitters: Lands' End Business Outfitters is an established uniform and corporate apparel provider serving schools and businesses with logo-decorated garments — a broad incumbent competing for the same school uniform and corporate apparel contracts that anchor Trendy Topics' B2B book.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trendy-topics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Trendy Topics