TVStoreOnline.com sells classic and new TV show T-shirts and memorabilia
T-shirts and memorabilia for television and movie fans
A part-time hobby turned into an online success story for Fred Hajjar when he launched TVStoreOnline.com in September 2004.
"We started out just selling Dukes of Hazzard T-shirts," says the former engineer, referring to the popular 1980s television show. "But the store really took off when we changed the name and started selling T-shirts and costumes based on other TV shows and movies."
Today, Michigan-based TV Store Online stocks a wide variety of TV show T-shirts, costumes and other memorabilia. Besides popular TV shows, TV Store Online bases its designs on movies, bands, comics and games.
"We ship quite a few T-shirts daily to television and movie fans and T-shirt collectors around the United States," says Hajjar. "The website gets more than 3,000 hits per day."
"We're always growing, always adding stock and creating new exclusive designs, cutting deals with the major television and movie studios so that we can offer T-shirts our customers won't find anywhere else."
Classic and new T-shirt designs
Hajjar says the M.A.S.H. designs are a perennial favorite among the most popular T-shirts TV Store Online sells.
"We sell a lot of T-shirts and costumes based on television shows and movies from the '80s," he says. "Dirty Dancing, Dukes of Hazzard and Rocky fly off the shelves."
In addition to TV shows, TV Store Online sells shirts and costumes based on movies, bands, comic-book characters and games. "We do about 50-50 sales in classic and new designs," says Hajjar. A quick scan of the website's stock index -- ordered alphabetically from AC/DC to X-Men -- shows the breadth of its designs, brings back memories (who could forget the Rubik's Cube?) and also delivers a laugh.
"The 'Borat Mankini' shirt is one of our own custom designs," says Hajjar. "It's popular."
From T-shirts to costumes, hats and more
TVStoreOnline also sells hats, robes, model cars and costumes.
"We got into costumes because we noticed a trend in superhero-related T-shirt sales around Halloween," says Hajjar. "People were buying T-shirts to use as part of a costume, so we decided to offer the whole package."
The website has since expanded its costume stock beyond superheroes. "We sell Batman and Flash Gordon costumes, but also cartoon characters like Peter Griffin from Family Guy and Charlie Brown, and characters from recent movies like Juno and Napoleon Dynamite," Hajjar says.
Rocky is another favorite for both T-shirt collectors and Halloween revelers. "Such a classic: Rocky Balboa," Hajjar says.
Turning a hobby T-shirt shop into an online success
Hajjar was earning his degree in engineering when he started selling Dukes of Hazzard T-shirts online.
"It was basically a hobby site," he says. The store did well but didn't take off until he changed the name and started selling a wider variety of stock. Eventually, TV Store Online became successful enough that Hajjar realized he could operate it full-time. Today, he employs a staff of nine who sell, design and ship T-shirts and costumes.
Much of what makes the business work is Hajjar's ability to create and sell shirts customers can't find anywhere else. "You won't find our T-shirts at Wal-Mart," he says.
Television and movie memorabilia is a true hobby for Hajjar. His personal collection includes T-shirts based on "Karate Kid, vintage Transformers and old-school Nintendo designs.
"Everyone on staff is really into T-shirts," he says. "Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this."
TVStoreOnline on the web
: @tvtees
: [}}} Facebook]
: [}}} MySpace]- TVStoreOnline Affiliate Program
Contact
- 248-888-7510
- 866-823-8537
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Address
- 5336 Tequesta Dr
- West Bloomfield MI 48323
