We're thrilled that you're interested in our company, and we're proud to share a little bit of our story with you. So please read on and get to know us a little better.
When you walk down Big Top's red carpet or visit our online t-shirt and product customizer, it may be hard to believe that our company's story actually begins in a garage during a hot Florida summer to a soundtrack of local bands.
As a member of one of these bands, Big Top founder Alex Tchekmeian plugged away on bass with his friends, practicing songs for the group's next gig. Only a high school freshman at the time, Alex had already taken his place as the band's manager and promoter. The approaching gig wasn't just any normal show--it was the band's very first CD release party. This was a big deal, and Alex was entrusted with the most important task of all: securing printed t-shirts for the band to sell at the show.
After holding car washes to raise money, the day of the show came along with the completed merchandise. With an anxious tear of the tape, Alex and the gang opened the box to reveal their first t-shirts. Holding one in his hand and examining the design, Alex thought to himself,
And that's exactly what he did. Just a few years later, Alex had already built an impressive clientele of bands that purchased both designs and merchandise directly through him.
With a lot of elbow grease and a good bit of gumption, Alex teamed up with Jared Mendelewicz, with whom he had worked on many different web design projects, to really bring AKT Enterprises into action. The two rented warehouse space and a manual printer and got to work. They launched Designspin, allowing bands to easily order designs from an online catalogue of pre-made artwork, and Merchspin, a screen-printing company that printed the designs on t-shirts right at the new warehouse.
What followed was more hard work. Hand-written orders, a lot of late nights and sore hands from hours of screen printing led to scores of satisfied customers and an enterprise on its way to success. Whatever limitations we had in those early days went unnoticed by our customers, and since then we've kept our focus on customer satisfaction no matter the situation.
Next, Alex and Jared brought Kevin Khandjian on as CIO. With Kevin's help, the company utilized new media and technologies to reach even higher levels, and everyone couldn't help but take notice. That's when Business Week included AKT in their list of "Top 5 Young Entrepreneurs Under 25" in the nation.
Inspired by the support, we pressed forward until AKT Enterprises was servicing thousands of customers and filling tens of thousands of merchandise orders placed through Merchspin and our new online store and fulfillment company, District Lines.
Our clientele had grown into a massive and diverse group of people, including clothing companies, small businesses, sports teams and fraternities.
With the additions of our own design company and an ever-growing sales team, it was clear to everyone that business was only expanding. In 2010, Inc Magazine named AKT Enterprises #511 on its list of fasting-growing private companies in the nation. It was and is undeniably an honor, but our company's greatest honor has always been serving you, the customer. We're always looking to expand our services to meet your needs and requests.
With that in mind, we opened Big Top, a unique and modern retail experience for the merchandising industry. We work hard so that Big Top remains focused on providing outstanding service for even the smallest order of a single t-shirt. Essentially, Big Top captures in one location what AKT Enterprises has always been about-creativity, innovation, personal service and an excellent product.
We're well aware that not everyone can make it out to visit a Big Top store, which is why we launched our easy-to-use product designer that you can access from anywhere via your computer. With our product designer, you're in total control!
You can create an awesome t-shirt design in minutes and then receive the physical product just a few days later. We love the idea of allowing our customers to be as involved as possible in the design process, and we hope you do, too.
Big Top's product catalog includes way more than just t-shirts and is growing all the time. At Big Top, you can customize hats, jerseys, jackets, towels, stickers, uniforms, pens, mugs, ornaments, and much, much more-you can even create a state-of-the-art website that will undoubtedly get your small business or organization noticed by the right people. Our on-site artists are always there to help you get your design just right, and our thorough quality control process ensures that your custom product turns out just how you want it, whether you ordered one shirt or one thousand.
The AKT Enterprises companies work hand in hand to better each other, and our employees really enjoy making sure that happens. We're more than just co-workers, we're friends that challenge and support each other to be as innovative and creative as possible. Customer satisfaction and high quality work are our goals, and the positive energy that exists at AKT makes reaching those goals a fun and rewarding experience.
