Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Weems.
Hi Justin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My best friend and I worked at a club in our hometown of Nacogdoches, and there was a vacant venue space within this giant facility that had yet to be used in years. We convinced the owner to let us turn it back into a venue for more local bands that didn’t have an outlet to play. The owner agreed to let us do whatever we wanted to the space, but we were financially responsible for everything and had no money. We scrapped together what we could and would work through the night to get the place looking good enough to at least open. We did what every budding show promoter does, creating a booking name, Fine Southern Gentlemen. My partner, Anthony Sanchez, started designing some FSG shirts we could sell at the venue to help pay for more upgrades, sound equipment, lighting, etc. We had them printed at a local printer and had pretty good success with them. All the bands wore them, and we had enough money to keep the place afloat. Eventually, Anthony went ahead and started working at the local shop we were having them printed and printing all of our stuff after hours, which helped out even more. While we were having a great time doing this whole thing, we were ready to leave our small town. We took a trip around Texas and decided Austin would be the place we would land. Once we got here, we pitched our shirts to Parts & Labour on S. Congress back in 2007, and they agreed to carry our stuff which is probably the only reason we carried on with the brand. We both kept day jobs and still had local shops handling our printing until we found a Round Rock shop selling all of their equipment. We jumped on it and moved everything into my garage. Anthony got me up to speed with the printing process, as I had just been helping on the back end with everything. As soon as our friends saw that we could make merch, we finally had a business on our hands.
We quickly outgrew the garage and found a new shop in East Austin. Anthony eventually left to pursue another passion, and we brought on a new partner, Dan Henderson. Once Dan came on, we started ramping up the custom printing and moved heavily into live printing at different local bars and events. We ran out of space, moved down the street to a different shop, and started hiring our first employees. We went from a 700 sqft warehouse and eventually took over the entire building from a neighbor that was moving out. This allowed us a small space for retail and a dedicated space to host DIY shows, like in the old days. When the lease was up there, Dan left to head up another business he had been working on. The rest of the team moved into a much nicer, 3000 sqft air-conditioned space in East Austin with an actual retail area. From there, we finally moved to automatic presses, which made everyone’s lives so much easier, our turnaround times faster, and the quality of work more consistent. We continued to host shows in-store and off our back dock—anything we could do to bring people in?
By the time the lease ended, we couldn’t fit any more employees or deliveries in the door, so we had to find a new location. This was a weird time for everyone in the middle of the pandemic. We landed the spot we’re currently in, about 15,000 sqft. We shifted the focus to fundraising for local companies by hosting their designs on our site. This model grew into us rolling out our fulfillment side of the business and focusing more on online sales for our brand and around 80 other local, national, and international contributing artists.
Last summer, we finally decided it was time to change the name. We had outgrown Fine Southern Gentlemen as over half of our staff of around 50 employees was female, trans, or non-binary. We’ve proudly been Feels So Good since then and are still balancing custom printing, our online and retail store, brought in our sister record shop/label Feels So Good Records, and started working with vintage vendors and other home goods brands. And also built a stage and continue to host shows weekly from acts worldwide, giving an outlet to play for local bands with free drinks from our sponsors!
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not. Our biggest challenge has been growing too quickly with mass hiring and needing more time or experience to train everyone properly. We’re finally in a better place to slow down with that and get everything reeled in. The other struggle would be having so many different things going on under one roof. Many employees must wear different hats and try to juggle multiple projects unrelated to the once-central task.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our biggest goal is to spotlight both graphic and musical artists and deliver quality products to our customers. And, of course, supplying everyone with a good time that walks through our door. We love working with local businesses and creating merch and relationships with them. What sets us apart from other screen printing shops is how accessible we are. We want people here; we want it to feel like a community. Brand-wise, it’s been pretty cool seeing some big-name celebrities wearing our stuff and not going a day in Austin without seeing somebody wearing something we’ve made. I didn’t have that intention when we started, but it’s a good feeling. I’d want everyone to know that we offer many services, from screen printing, embroidery, poster printing, stickers, and koozies—anything custom. We have a massive retail space with graphic tees, vintage, vinyl, and home goods. We have shows weekly with free drinks from our sponsors and rent the space for private events. We offer fulfillment services to other online stores as well. And our record label is always looking to help promote local music.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Come check us out if you still need to!
Contact Info:
- Website: fsgprints.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/fsgprints
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fsgprints
- Twitter: twitter.com/fsgprints
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FSGprints
