rachelh@myweeklysentinel.com
Canton – Hope Thompson likes to bring smiles and happiness to her clients at Thompson Sports and Apparel.
After purchasing the business, Clever Creations, from Frank and Alicia Jennings in 2004, Thompson began her journey into the graphic design world.
With clients ranging from school districts, local businesses, to personalized gifts for walk-in customers, Hope deals with a variety of people and enjoys helping them with their customizing needs.
“My husband and I always talked about it and one day, I was at a family function and my brother told me the previous owners were going to be selling the business,” said Hope.
Within a month of hearing about Jennings’ plan to sell, Hope was the new owner and Thompson Sports and Apparel was born.
She started her new business out in the basement of her Ogdensburg home but realized about six years later that the business was much bigger than the space she had in her basement. In 2010, she moved the business to a convenient location on Troy Street in Canton.
“I was delivering a majority of my products to Canton anyway, so I figured it was time to move the business out of my home."
The business recently relocated again from Troy Street to 10 West Main Street into the old Canton Independent Sentinel office. Thompson Sports and Apparel offers many different brands; Holloway, Gildan, Jersey, and Nike to name a few. She does not limit orders to only sports-related items. She also works with personalized wall graphics, stickers, and window decals.
“I do all kinds of design work; it doesn’t matter what business. I try to accommodate everyone that comes in,” said Hope. “I can do embroidery, screen printing, hats, mugs, decals, banners.”
Hope just started focusing on signs as well.
A typical day in Hope’s world entails either receiving or designing new designs for customers, embroidery work, heat pressing designs on T-shirts, and making the shop more inviting.
“A lot of people bring me their designs. I just have to adjust it and make sure it’s feasible to print,” she said, while noting she can design items as well. “If you bring me your own intricate logo, I can also send them out and within a day or two have the design in an embroidered format.”
Hope now has two employees who help her with the business full time, Siarra Gordon and Michelle Ward. She also recently hired on Maezie Inman as part-time.
The shop has various machines which help Hope and her employees do their job, such as a VersaCAMM which prints/cuts names and numbers for sports jersey.
“It’s really all about how you frame a graphic,” she said, when discussing how to deal with small lettering or intricate designs or a window decal for a truck.
She is looking to eventually purchase a laser engraver that will enable her to add to her spectrum of personalized gifts.
Though she was shut down for some time during COVID, she was excited to return and “go all out” for her customers.
“It’s really fun for me and very rewarding,” she said. “Everyone has their down days in their job, but it usually only takes something as small as a ‘special’ T-shirt that brings tears to a customers’ eyes, that makes me love my job.”
Hope is a long-time resident of Canton. She grew up on McMurray Road on her family’s farm.
In 1996, she built a house with her husband Benny in Ogdensburg. Together, they have two kids, Kyle and Nathan.
Stop in at their location on Main Street to check out their clothing store. Free quotes are available and fundraising is available for any event. For more information or to place an order, call 570-673-3655, or find them on Facebook!