Today we’d like to introduce you to Glen and Ashley Coy. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Windmill City started as a screen printing shop in the fall of 2014. Glen opened a skateboard shop in his senior year of high school, owned and operated it for 15 years, and sold it once online retailers took precedence over local. The print shop was a natural next step.
Glen had zero hands-on printing experience but plenty of experience working with local and regional printers. The area was lacking in quality work and positive customer service—it wasn’t hard to fill the void. Youtube was a great school.
The print shop quickly grew and expanded to include embroidery. On the side, Glen and Ashley (his wife) started a small apparel brand, Peaks and Valleys. After three years of continuous expansion, Ashley left her job in marketing/hospitality to help manage the growth of the business. At the beginning of 2020, they sought to expand Windmill City into retail. The week they were supposed to sign a lease, Shelter in Place went into effect and they put their plans on hold.
After weathering the first few months of pandemic life, they decided to move forward with their plans and opened Windmill City Super #1, a souvenir shop of sorts, in October 2020.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not everything has been easy.
Glen is a completely self-taught printer and has had just as many challenges as successes when it comes to printing.
COVID-19 was initially a challenge, all orders were canceled or put on hold. Inquiries were slim-to-none for the first few weeks of California’s shut-down. Thankfully, we pivoted, with the help of our team and some outside services (aka very talented seamstresses) to quickly produce and retail masks — selling thousands in the first month or so, when they were not readily available. These sales helped keep the business afloat – covering leases, loans and keeping our employees working.
Once summer came around, business was back to usual, as usual, can be.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Windmill City consists of two parts: production & retail.
Windmill City Screen Printing has spent the better half of a decade helping businesses, organizations and events in the Coachella Valley and beyond represent their best selves through quality decorated goods. Born from a background in retail and hospitality, Windmill City’s business perspective and use of innovative and environmentally sensitive practices make them a unique resource in the community for screen printing, embroidery and custom merchandise.
Windmill City Super #1 is a souvenir shop of sorts located in mid-town Palm Springs, here for the vacationer and staycationer alike. With an emphasis on California made – more than 1/3 of products are produced in-house by Windmill City, 1/3 in collaboration with friends and small businesses and 1/3 California-made. You’ll find a bit of everything—t-shirts, hats, custom leather goods, towels, ceramics, art prints, jewelry, bath and body products, and more. Most recently, Super #1 has teamed up with Golden Sage Market to offer exclusively California-produced foods to-go.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We have learned to think resourcefully and creatively, utilize our network, and to not be afraid to ask for help.
Contact Info:
- Website: windmillcityscreenprinting.com / super-number-one.com
- Instagram: @windmillcityscreenprinting / @super.number.one
Image Credits:
Portrait – Jessie Penprase Print Shop photos – Manuel Barajas Retail Shop Photos – Reynaldo Romero
