“I never in a million years thought Hometana would be where it is now,” Shirstie Gaylord said.
Gaylord launched her apparel brand Hometana in 2017.
“When I first started Hometana, I started with six designs and probably ordered thirty t-shirts. Now we’re just over thirty designs and thousands of t-shirts later,” she said.
Gaylord travels the state selling her t-shirts, hats, and accessories.
“Hometana grew out of this massive affection for Montana. Running a business in Montana means that I get to keep loving everything that I love about Montana,” Gaylord said.
Selling online, attending trade shows and farmer’s markets, it would only be natural that she would have to find a way to expand.
“Hometana likes to focus on simple designs, clean designs, one color designs, and that’s because for the number one reason: if someone passes me on the street and reads my shirt in a split second, I want them to know I’m from Montana,” Gaylord said.
She purchased Homer in Townsend a year ago.
“Homer the 1959 Shasta is a solution to a problem,” Gaylord said. “We came up with the idea to turn the Shasta into a rolling tradeshow pop-up shop, simply out of our constant desire to be traveling the state and meeting more Montanans.”
And ever since, she has worked day in and out to make him a place for Hometana to call home.
“When we found Homer the Shasta, he didn’t look anything like this,” Gaylord said. “He was rotten to the core, he was so moldy and damaged. The first thing that we did was replace all of his walls, all of his electricity, and all of his bones.”
Starting Friday, you’ll see Homer the Shasta at different trade shows and markets. His debut: Downtown Great Falls Night Market.
“Homer has a little bit of a social media following. We’re getting messages from people asking where we’re going to be and people already devoting their love to Homer,” Gaylord said.
You can follow Homer the Shasta (@hometanastore) and Hometana (@hometana) on Instagram.
To purchase any Hometana gear,you can click here.
“We love owning a business in Great Falls because it is centrally located. People of Great Falls are extremely supportive of small businesses. I’d say people in Central Montana are extremely supportive of small businesses,” Gaylord said.
Shirstie Gaylord worked for KRTV in 2017 before leaving in 2018 to work full-time on Hometana. She is married to Eric Gaylord, KRTV’s News Director.
