TACOMA, Wash. — Nine employees and one shop dog, Stickers Northwest churns out a whole lot more than stickers in its four thousand square foot facility.
"We do stickers and t-shirts, hats, buttons, magnets, keychains and mugs. We sell them to hundreds of stores throughout the Pacific Northwest," said founder Tony Saddler.
For example, Compass Rose in Tacoma has begun selling them.
"People like to show their pride for where they live," said Tonya Schneider.
How in the world did Tony get into this sticky situation? You only have to go back to the fall of 2013 when he says his life was turned upside down by something wonderful...a baby girl named Rylee.
"She's extremely sweet, but she can also be sour at times," said Tony.
This accounting major from western Washington knows numbers and he knew he needed a side hustle to make up for his wife Meghan's income, so he decided to sell stickers online.
"My wife and I used to literally barcode all of our merchandise on our coffee table while binge watching Netflix."
The first success a "12" using the Super Bowl-winning Seahawks colors. Then an old college roommate designed a sticker celebrating Washington roots.
"He made it with Evergreen trees growing out of the word roots. Then we expanded that design into the state of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and other states in the country and it's always near the top."
Here's a phrase you seem to see everywhere: mountains please. They're even shipping boxes of t-shirts to Kansas.
"It's as flat as can be, but they want mountains or they're transplants from an area that has mountains and they want them back."
The tried and true designs mean repeat business.
"People know they sell well as a sticker so they want it as a hat, a keychain, or a magnet."
Stickers Northwest is now so busy with so many employees doing such intricate work - Tony has had to mandate ten-minute breaks every hour for ping pong.
Looking forward to the future: more expansion and more employees, not bad for a side hustle.
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