St. Patrick’s Day Shirts a Pot of Gold for Mich. Company

With sayings like “You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning” and “The liver is evil and must be punished,” Ann Arbor T-Shirt Company’s green St. Patrick’s day shirts are designed to get a laugh (or raise eyebrows). The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based t-shirt maker sells thousands of novelty St. Patrick’s Day shirts each year, says co-founder Jerry Kozak, making the holiday a bestseller for the 20-person company. “Holidays where people are a little outrageous lend themselves well to t-shirt designs,” says Kozak. “People are more than willing to spend $15 to $20 for an outrageous shirt.” Kozak says online orders for the holiday begin trickling in starting March 1, with orders peaking the week before St. Patrick’s Day. “It’s exponential growth the week before the holiday itself,” says Kozak. And while social media site Pinterest may have a reputation for catering to more feminine interests, Kozak says the site has been a boon when it comes to sales of the often-crass shirts. Kozak says the most popular shirt this year is of a vomiting leprechaun. “It’s been really good. We did a lot of shirts that have more of a niche audience and might only appeal to people in a certain town or city, and they’re not going to find them through general advertising,” says Kozak. “People that post the shirts to their board ... [are sending] us a lot of traffic, and it’s organic and natural.”