What started out, as an idea between two best friends has now become a name known locally to their hometown in New York and here at USC. Domenick Pfau and Matt Peterson of Bolton Landing, NY began their business the summer after freshmen year. While Pfau was in New York and Peterson here in Columbia, both collaborated back and forth via Facebook to create what is now Tank Top Tuesdays.
Q: How did you come up with the name of your company and why did you choose the name?
Matt: S.O. teric was the first name. In high school we researched the word esoteric, which means exclusive and the S.O. stood for “sons of.” We changed name to Tank Top Tuesdays the following year.
Dom: We would hang out at the lake with our friends every Tuesday during the summer, which was the day everyone had off work. It was the perfect name considering it’s what we wore every Tuesday with our friends at the lake.
Q: When did the concept start and when was your first design made?
D: Sitting in economics freshmen year doodling is when I first thought of the idea.
M: Dom Facebook messaged me about the shirt idea and went back and forth. The first design was handmade and drawn by Dom.
D: We researched how to screen print and idea of using the lake came from my sister who designed jewelry. She used it as one of her designs and I decided to use her as inspiration. I got a tattoo of the lake first and not long after we decided to use it in our design.
Q: Where do you find inspiration?
M: Our inspiration comes from seasons, holidays and a lot of it revolves around the lake. Some of our designs play off inside jokes and we design for local artists and restaurants back home too.
D: We were able to make things cheaper and free by designing and printing them ourselves. Using inside jokes and places we knew made it even better.
M: Yep. Our day consists of work, class, beer and screen-printing.
Q: What products do you currently offer?
M: We currently offer: Koozies, stickers, t-shirts, tanks, sweatshirts, long-sleeves quarter zips and crewnecks.
Q: What are your goals and aspirations for your company?
M: As of now, at this point we need to get each new product rolled out quickly. We plan on bringing it wherever we go after we graduate until we get the shot to make a big break.
D: Once we have the money to put back into it we will add more. The original idea behind the company was for us to have free tank tops and money to always have beer. So far, it has maintained its original foundation.
Bonus Fact: Matt and Dom created a screen print design specially made for Macklemore. They attended his concert right before his big break in December of 2011. After the concert Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis came out to sign autographs and the guys were able to give them the tank tops. The next night Matt and Dom’s friends attended his concert in Chapel Hill and got a picture with Macklemore wearing the new tank they created for him!
