PWN0604

JUNE 4, 2020
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 3
Local company counts Conan among its fans
SULLY’S
FROM PAGE 1
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
Pulling women
out of poverty
POVERTY
FROM PAGE 1
The report also noted that
low educational attainment disproportionately
hurts women
because of wage disparity
and occupational segregation.
Statistics cited in the report
indicate 28 percent of women
living in Peabody hold a bachelor’s
degree or more advanced
degree.
Budget Buddies is another
organization sharing The
Women’s Fund grant money.
It works to build financial literacy,
confidence, and security
of low-income women and
girls.
“This funding will go such
a long way as we help to meet
the needs of our clients and
community members...It will
allow us to adapt our workshops
to make them available
and accessible virtually that are
increasingly…needed to help
lift low-income women from
the economic hardship caused
by this pandemic, and to prevent
more women from falling
into poverty because of it,” said
Danielle Piskaldo of Budget
Buddies.
Founded in 2003, The
Women’s Fund of Essex
County has awarded over $2.3
million to over 180 non-profit
programs.
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
Chris Wrenn,
owner of Sully’s
Brand, shows a
photo of a puzzle
featuring 25 years
of bumper-stickers
which he plans
to sell due to the
renewal of interest
in puzzles amid
the COVID-19
pandemic.
PHOTOS |
SPENSER HASAK
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.
Chris Wrenn fills online orders for Sully’s Brand in his Peabody
warehouse.
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