T-shirt shop a good run for artist

The first time the White-fish Pilot did a story on the Northwind Shirt Company, it was Dec. 2, 1976, and silk-screened T-shirts were a hot new retail item in tourist shops around the country.

As the first T-shirt business in the Flathead Valley, Northwind found a strong niche in the local economy — they made shirts for The Place, the Montana Noodle Company and for a Whitefish Winter Carnival fundraiser.

Their designs ranged from skiing, Montana, Whitefish, fishing and logging to kiddie themes. They also offered to make custom T-shirts for bars, sports teams, restaurants or any organization.

Thirty-three years later, Lael Gray has sold what is the third-oldest retail business on Central Avenue — only The Toggery and Nelson's Ace Hardware are older.

Armed with an art degree from the University of California-Davis, Gray, then Lael Diehm, moved to Whitefish from California in 1976.

"I had worked for a T-shirt shop in Colorado, and they said they would help me set up a new business in a new location for a one-time-only fee," she explained.

The silk-screening business required a range of talents, from art and design to purchasing supplies, sales and marketing. Ink was placed on a screen with a design, the ink was rubbed through, and the T-shirt was placed under heat for a few seconds. Customers could choose a design and have a freshly-made shirt in a matter of minutes.

"It was a good business," Gray said. "There were some skeptical people at first, but tourists wanted T-shirts with Big Mountain in the winter and Glacier Park in the summer, and the sports teams and bars wanted T-shirts made, too."

Gray and her former husband, Carl Wetzler, set up shop in the Emporium building, now Bear Mercantile, in 1976. Seven years later, when the building was sold, the two silk-screeners scrambled to find a new location on Central Avenue, where a lucrative tourist-shopping market existed.

"I asked the owner of the Country Squire men's clothing store if he would sell his entire building," Gray recalled. "When he said yes, I found two partners to go in on the purchase."

In the beginning, Gray and Wetzler ran the shop by themselves. As business grew, they hired employees to help out with sales and T-shirt printing. Marsha Hughes was an early employee, Gray said, and Bridget O'Leary became a quarter-interest partner after Wetzler left.

"She made beautiful wood-block prints that we used to make T-shirts," Gray said. "We were making shirts for KUFM and Huckleberry Days by then."

Over the years, Gray saw styles come and go. Bright neon-like colors were popular during the disco era, and teal at one point was very popular, but she tried to stay away from political themes after experiencing the fallout from a simple solar-power T-shirt she made in the late 1970s..

"The 'dumb questions' T-shirt for Glacier Park was a big hit," she recalled. "'When do deer become elk? Are there any undiscovered lakes that can be seen from the road? Where do they put the animals in winter? What time do the glaciers move?'"

Mimi Beadles, who bought Northwind from Gray, began working at the T-shirt shop in 1989. She had been working as a graphic artist at the Daily Inter Lake. She and Gray worked together making designs until about 1993, when pre-printed T-shirts took over the business and silk-screening faded away.

"People thought it was novel at first, and they loved buying discounted shirts thrown in the 'goof barrel,'" Gray said. "But after a while, people didn't want to wait four or five minutes for us to silk-screen a T-shirt. And employees couldn't run the store and screen shirts at the same time."

Beadles stayed on, although over the years she took on a second career — protecting dogs and cats. She is president of the Flathead Spay and Neuter Task Force, which she founded in 1998. Beadles closed on the Northwind shop last week, and dozens of people showed up for a surprise party for the Gray and Beadles on Oct. 1.

"Mimi was running the shop more and more the past few years — some people figured it was already hers," Gray said.

Gray said she always found time to ski at Big Mountain, hike in Glacier Park, Jewel Basin and the Mission Range, and go whitewater kayaking in area rivers. She also worked for as a graphic artist for the Whitefish Pilot and learned to shoot video for MCAT.

"I filmed the Kalispell city council meetings for the free public cable station," she said. "Later, we made about 50 shows on local artists and musicians."

Gray also found time to book Irish and folk bands for shows at the former Viking Lodge and at Flathead Valley Community College when it was still located in downtown Kalispell. She did the regional booking for bluegrass fiddler Vassar Clements for several years, and 26 years ago she started the square dance and music camp on Flathead Lake that continues under the name Bearhug Musical Festival.

She met her current husband, Darrell Gray, in 1995. He was a house designer and builder and had just completed a home in Bigfork he was reluctant to leave. So after they married, Gray moved to Bigfork and commuted one-hour to Whitefish through fine and foul weather, watching for deer on the road at night.

With the business and long commute in the past, Gray can now concentrate on art again. She said she took some oil-painting classes from Joe Abbrescia about eight years ago, and Darrell took classes in welding, glass-blowing and bronze casting. Together, they have set up a studio they call Shades Of Gray.

Gray says the Northwind Shirt Company is in good hands, and she fondly remembers the years she spent there.

"I'm truly grateful for the shop," she said. "It kept me in Whitefish, through all the ups and downs any business went through. I want to thank the town and all my customers over the years for making it possible."