A new brand of Southern
Picture a man standing in the middle of a field, holding a shotgun in his hand with the ease of a seasoned hunter. He is leaning slightly to the right as he surveys the field for doves and wears an old cap.
Jake Long discovered this picture of his grandfather following his unexpected death. As Long was searching for a way to honor his beloved role model, the image became the inspirational spark for Everything Southern, a clothing line now making the picture of his grandfather iconic.
“That photo is precious to my entire family, and I think using it now is the perfect way to honor my grandfather and the legacy he left for me,” Long said.
Long and four of his friends sold their first T-shirt in March and have since expanded to sell hats, tank tops, koozies and car stickers.
“I had been observing what’s going on with shirts and what has been popular recently,” Long said. “These companies like Southern Tide and Southern Proper just make these shirts that are pretty simple, but people really like them. I had made shirts in the past for events like Relay for Life that people liked, so I thought I could do that myself.”
Long and his buddies were sitting around one night discussing the possible business venture when someone made the comment that everything they did had to be southern. With that, “Everything Southern” was born.
The all-important centerpiece of these companies? The logo. Everything Southern’s logo of Papoo next to Jake’s dog provides a recognizable, simple design around which all of their products are built.
After the name and logo were decided, the guys ordered 15 shirts for themselves and their families. The shirts were just white with a rough outline of the logo. But when people saw the shirts on the company’s Twitter page, demand climbed.
“We sold 10 of those 15 shirts before the shipment even came in,” Long said. “They weren’t anything special, but people seemed to like them. So we got excited about it and decided to order three new colors and we refined the logo a little bit.”
Long, who plans to attend The University of Alabama in the fall as a business major, was the one to get everything off the ground. He played football through high school and was involved in SGA and Relay for Life. Long’s dream job is being a football coach.
Once business began to pick up, the others started taking on more responsibility.
“In the beginning, it was just easier for me to do everything,” Long said. “But now everyone is doing something. For example, Chad is in charge of social media. I had gotten the website up and functional, but he’s the one that really made it what it is. It looks great because of all the pictures he got.”
With Jake as the CEO, Stuart Jacobs as CFO, Thomas Woods as COO, Aaron Fine as Director of Online Sales, and Chad Gordon as Director of Marketing, the group seems to have everything organized as they attempt to grow their brand.
The Pants Store sells Everything Southern shirts in Crestline, Leeds, Trussville and Tuscaloosa. The Blue Moon Boutique in Newnan, Ga. has also picked up their clothing. Lastly, they sell their products online on their website, everythingsouthern.us.
Long said the focus right now is to build their client base and make good products so they can expand their brand. He is managing the company while taking summer classes in Tuscaloosa, and will attend Alabama along with Fine and Woods. Jacobs will enroll in Auburn in the fall, and Gordon will be at South Alabama. The group has discussed making polo and button down shirts in the future.
Other future plans include giving a certain percentage of their sales to charity, something that Long says came from everyone in the group’s Christian background.
But whatever is in Everything Southern’s future, one thing will remain at its core: the hunter and his dog.
For more visit shop.everythingsouthern.us.