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How a t-shirt maker is keeping 'Tacoma Strong' during coronavirus pandemic

As small businesses struggle to survive, T-Town Apparel has come up with a unique way to help their neighbors.

TACOMA, Wash. — At a time when so many businesses are locked up and silent,T-Town Apparel is humming with its line of Tacoma Strong t-shirts. Each one celebrates a local business struggling to survive.

“I try not to think about it I just going,” said co-owner Gail Ringrose, behind a face mask. “You're printing their shirt and you just wonder is this going to be the last time you see their logo.”

T-Town Apparel sells the shirts online for $20. $10 keeps the shop running, barely. The other $10 goes to the business needing help.

Credit: KING TV
One of the #TacomaStrong t-shirts celebrates The Red Hot

“Everybody gets a check,” said Ringrose. “On Monday I mail out the checks.”

That check may be the only income coming in. The Red Hot, a Tacoma pub usually packed with hot dog-loving customers, has been closed since March 16. T-shirt sales don't come close to paying the mounting bills but they mean so much.

“Everybody in one way or another is sort of looking out for each other and especially all of the mom and pop shops in town,” said The Red Hot’s Chris Miller.

Credit: KING TV
The Red Hot at a busier time

Gail and her husband Pat Ringrose have nearly a hundred different t-shirts for sale. There's one for a 75-year old bowling alley in Proctor, and another for a four-year-old vintage shop on Antique Row.

So many small businesses are facing big challenges, including T-Town Apparel itself, which had to close its Proctor store to maintain social distancing rules.

"We still have to pay our rent,” Gail Ringrose said. “We still have to pay for our machines, we still have to pay for things that we purchased prior to all of this happening.”

Credit: KING TV
Pat and Gail Ringrose keep T-Town Apparel running

It’s best to stay busy,  explained Ringrose, as things can get emotional when the machines stop running or the business owners call in to see how sales are going.

“Over the phone, we cry together and we laugh together,” said Ringrose. “None of us know if we're going to still be able to continue much longer.”

What does “Tacoma Strong” mean? Ringrose says it means everyone may be struggling, but nobody's struggling alone.

"If you do go out, we went out together,” she said. “And we gave everything we could till the last drop.”

RELATED: $158 million in coronavirus relief money approved to aid Pierce County

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