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When owner of Greek Row Tees & Trophies Randy Steedley went into work on Tuesday, July 3, he had no idea that the order of a lifetime was heading his way. The well-established Valdosta store that has become known for embroidery and Greek apparel was called to do a special order for the Lifetime Network hit show, “Project Runway.”
“It’s pretty cool,” said Lauren Hamilton, Greek Row’s embroidery specialist.
“Project Runway’s” executive production coordinator made contact with Steedley on Tuesday via email.
“She sent me an email through our website,” said Steedley.
The coordinator initially told Steedley that she needed 50 travel packs — that include a pillow, blanket, ear plugs and sleep mask — embroidered with their logo for the cast and crew of “Project Runway.”
“She called me late Tuesday night from L.A. and finalized the order,” said Steedley. “She then said, by the way, the order has changed to 400.”
The plot thickened when the coordinator told Steedley that she needed all 400 travel packs in New York City by Thursday, July 12. With only a week to complete the project, Steedley accepted the challenge as it was a job opportunity of a lifetime ... and his wife, Jennifer, didn’t leave him much of a choice because come on, it’s Project Runway!
“It will be probably 20 hours of work,” said Steedley.
In an assembly-line process, Steedley with the help of Hamilton and a few other workers will unpack, disassemble, embroider, re-assemble and re-pack the 26 boxes of travel kits.
“What we’re actually embroidering on is the pillow,” said Hamilton.
The pillows will have to be “looped” with a plastic device that finds the center of the pillow and then they will be placed in an embroidery machine that will stitch the computer-programmed “Project Runway” logo onto each and every pillow.
On Friday, July 6, Steedley was still in awe of what at first appeared to be a phenomenon. In actuality, the coordinator at “Project Runway” was referred to Steedley by a person who had placed orders with him in the past.
“We were referred by a previous customer who was happy with our work,” said Steedley.
Greek Row first opened in 1997 with a small shop on Plum Street in Remerton. In 2001, Steedley moved the shop out of Remerton to a 2,000-square-foot building on Williams Street. At first just selling fraternity and sorority products, they expanded into embroidery in 2002. In 2004, Greek Row moved to its current location on Baytree Road and began offering screen printing.
“We always wanted to be on Baytree Road,” said Steedley. “It’s the main artery between the college and the mall.”
In 2009, Greek Row began to heavily focus on high school apparel products in the show room. In 2011, Greek Row began what Steedley calls a “business facelift” and moved into doing trophies and awards which turned the original Greek Row into Greek Row Tees & Trophies.
“So many customers came in and said that they thought we were just a college store,” said Steedley. “That’s the stigma we’re trying to get away from.”
Now in addition to a new logo, new products, new displays and fresh paint, Steedley can tack on creating a beautifully embroidered pillow for the fabulously gorgeous host of “Project Runway,” Heidi Klum, to his repertoire.
“It means that a small business in any town can tend to a large job for a large company,” said Steedley. “It can open doors to anything. You just never know.”
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Related Photos
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Greek Row Tees & Trophies owner Randy Steedley looks over the ‘Project Runway’ logo that will be embroidered on 400 travel kits. Brittany McClure / VDT
Greek Row Tees & Trophies: Small-town store hits the ‘Runway’
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