PEABODY — When Conan O’Brien got antsy from living in coronavirus quarantine, he turned to Sully’s Brand for some fun and distraction.
The T-shirt and logo paraphernalia business that shares space with a record label in the former Foster Street industrial center sent O’Brien a “quarantine care package,” including a Conan-centric T-shirt.
With its bright-red “Boston” logo, the shirt’s art depicts O’Brien’s father knocking a hot dog out of his son’s hand after former Red Sox left fielder Jim Rice dropped a fly ball. Another Sully’s shirt featuring an image of the Zakim Bridge earned an on-air commentary by the late-night television host.
Sully’s owner Chris Wrenn has been slapping Boston images and logos on bumper stickers, shirts and hats for more than 20 years. A Connecticut native who launched a record label while attending college in Vermont, Wrenn moved to Boston in 1998 to be closer to the city’s rock music scene.
With his sights set on releasing more than one record a year, he teamed up with friends to create and distribute bumper stickers promoting the Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry.
“We realized we could make money selling stuff to fans. We’d get a hawkers license and a backpack and go,” Wrenn said.
The stickers made money and Wrenn’s Bridge Nine Records upped its releases to more than a dozen a year even as he expanded his fledgling paraphernalia business beyond sports into other Boston-oriented promotions.
Sully’s Brand reached the point in 2003 where Wrenn, a Salem resident, needed a manufacturing site. He picked Salem’s Shetland Park and when he looked to economize four years later, he found the maze of brick and stone manufacturing buildings off Foster Street.
“It’s 90 degrees inside in the summer but I realized, ‘There’s a business here,’” he said.
With a dozen employees and more than 100 T-shirts and other products for sale online, Sully’s Brand has weathered what Wrenn described as “peaks and valleys” in part because of its charity emphasis and interest from stars like O’Brien and Sully’s T-shirt fan Ben Affleck.
City Planning and Community Development Director Curt Bellevance said Salem’s loss is Peabody’s gain.
“We think it’s great that we have such a cool company located in Peabody, especially with the city’s rich sports history. Chris’ products are funny, poetic, and current. Sully’s is also philanthropic and their generosity is tremendous. I own a few of their products and I’m sure many other Peabody folks do as well,” Bellevance said.
Coronavirus hit Wrenn’s business hard, forcing him to furlough half of his workers with plans to bring them back.
“For the last two months, it’s pretty much been me,” he said.
Sully’s teamed up with California firm, People’s Protective Equipment to retrofit hats to hold protective face shields and opened donation portals for People’s and to support The Boston Resiliency Fund.
Wrenn’s passion for music hasn’t been tempered by the coronavirus’ economic impact or technological changes that turned records from a mainstream to a niche product. His enduring motto is, “I’m going to create something.”
“For me, it’s always been about putting your name out there. My hope is to develop licensing deals,” he said.