Yorkshire duo launch county-themed clothing site

Two Yorkshire entrepreneurs, who are passionate about their county, have launched a new e-commerce business that offers original t-shirts and merchandise products, all with a Yorkshire theme.

Back in 2013, Kristian Wilkinson and Edward McConville originally created I’m from Yorkshire as an online community, which allowed users to share and showcase photographs and stories from across the region.

However, after identifying a gap in the market for Yorkshire themed products, they have since started designing and printing t-shirts featuring common sayings from the county.

Edward said: “We launched I’m from Yorkshire on Yorkshire Day as an online community. It enables people from Yorkshire to come together and celebrate all that they love about the region by sharing photographs and stories.”

This online community became very popular and garnered a loyal following, therefore the two entrepreneurs soon spotted a demand and then formed the e-commerce business.

Since the products launched, tens of thousands of Yorkshire folk have bought them and sent back photographs from all over the world. The duo’s Facebook page has already attracted 137,000 people, which showcases how loyal a following they have gathered and how passionate Yorkshire folk are about their roots.

Edward added: “Whilst the business is still very much focused on the community that we have built, there is no denying that the products we create are hugely popular. We can now offer them clothing and merchandise. We stock hundreds of t-shirts and a wide range of other items including flags, keyrings, phone cases, mugs, shopper bags and cards that showcase sayings and icons synonymous with the county.

“All of our products are developed following suggestions from the community; we use the feedback that we receive on Facebook to develop new ideas and bring these to life. That is the power of social media and the main driving force for the e-commerce side of our business. Giving the people what they want!”

Kristian and Edward, who were both born and raised in Yorkshire, arevery passionate about the county and believe that this strong sense of identity that is associated with the region is a major benefit for the business and a reason they now attract between 5,000 and 20,000 hits to the website every day.

Kristian commented: “Yorkshire people are seen to identify more with their county than their country and the dialect and accent is also very distinctive. We saw this immediately when we started the community, receiving hundreds of photographs and stories every week from users. With I’m from Yorkshire we have been able to capitalise upon this using it as a basis for the business. It’s early days but the response from customers has been excellent. We hope to eventually become the ‘go to’ resource online for anything and everything Yorkshire.”

Edward continued: “The community from I’m from Yorkshire are encouraged to share their photographs of the area on our Facebook page, the next step will be giving users the opportunity to have the photograph printed onto a t-shirt or a beach towel. We hope to introduce this service within the next two months after receiving positive feedback from our customers. “A personalised piece of clothing makes for a great present or simply a gift to yourself which proudly displays your Yorkshire roots. We have no doubt that this type of service will prove popular with our clients.”

The duo are also attempting to establish connections with retailers and gift shops and have their range stocked on the high street. They are already working with numerous councils in the area and several independent gift shops.

As for moving forward, Kristian said: “Our ambition next year is to see our t-shirts and merchandise stocked in shops across the region. The range is an ideal addition for gift stores or retailers that have high footfall from Yorkshire folk.”

Edward added: “You don’t have to look far to find other organisations who are showcasing their Yorkshire roots. One such partner worth a mention who we have worked with on cross promotion is The Great Yorkshire Brewery. Carl and his team have created a fine range of brews all Born and Bred in Yorkshire. We are hoping that in the next chapter of our story we can network and build strong ties with likeminded people.”

Kristian and Edward also plan to launch a new YouTube channel this year focusing particularly on Yorkshire themed videos.