Aardvark Screen Printing and Embroidery - Bowling Green, OH

123 S. Main Street, Bowling Green, OH 43402

http://www.aardvarkspe.com

Back in the mid-1980s, Gary Bell was teaching graphic design at the now closed Macomber-Whitney High School in Toledo. As a hobby after school, he and two other colleagues began a homebrew club that made wine and beer. They also sold homebrew supplies such as yeast, hops and malt. The hobby soon expanded and they began printing designs and logos on glassware.

It wasn’t long afterwards that people began coming to Bell and requesting that he print other items like t-shirts. “I had one idea and the community had another,” he says.

So in 1987, he teamed with his homebrew pals and established Aardvark in Rossford, Ohio. The name came about because, “you have to remember, that was pre-Internet and you had to be aware of advertising in the phone directory,” noted Bell. A business beginning with “double A” put them at the top of the list.

Eventually, Bell bought out his partners and moved the business to a 1500-square-foot shop across from Bowling Green State University. When he outgrew that location and a sports store friend vacated his 3000-square-foot space on Main Street, Bell moved the operations to the current address.

Now situated in the heart of the thriving historical downtown business district, Aardvark provides the community custom, in-house decorated screenprinted and embroidered garments. T-shirts, golf shirts, hoodies, local high school spirit wear and varsity jackets are some of the most popular products. Bell is also licensed with Bowling Green State University to create items with the school’s logo.

His team has expanded to 10 staff members and the beginning of the school year is a busy time for the shop. In an area that is filled with other small businesses, Bell says he gets positive feedback from the community as everyone strives to “buy local.” With the ability to screenprint or embroider more than 700 different types of items, Bell seems to have achieved the vision he notes on his website, “to be the exclusive local source for custom imprinted apparel and promotional products.”