KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There are a lot of options to show your Kansas City pride on a shirt, and there’s a new player in that business.
The founder of Three KC has received some promotional help from a long-time friend.
Brendan Curran is a father of three, high school math teacher and a high school coach. It's a full schedule.
“Seven to three, we're in class, and then after that kids are doing activities, and in the fall, my wife is coaching and in the winter I'm coaching and so yeah, they're busy days," Curran said.
He wears one more hat - he’s the founder of Three KC, a Kansas City clothing company inspired by his love of math.
“Just appreciating symmetry and the asymptotes and balanced with mathematical equations plays a huge part in how I piece designs together," Curran said.
He said he knew the business of Kansas City merchandise was a crowded field.
“I was a little hesitant because there's so many Kansas City brands, and that alone, kind of almost held me back from trying it because, like there's already so many, but after about a year I just had to decide to go for it," he said.
His signature shirt, “Joe Arthur Gate Stack,” pays homage to four Kansas City barbecue staples. It found its way onto an Apple TV series.
“Really as soon as the first episode aired, all of a sudden I saw an uptick in searches and sales and, and that was great," Curran said.
"Ted Lasso" stars Kansas City native, Jason Sudeikis whose friend of more than 30 years is Brendan Curran.
“We played basketball against each other in eighth grade, and somehow kind of connected, and we both, he went to school at Holy Cross and that was my parish and we both got confirmed there with a few other friends, so from that connection we remained friends," Curran explained.
He's followed his friend Jason’s career from the beginning.
“There's a great sense of pride. Like, I can still remember when he first got on SNL. It was before I had a cell phone, it was a message on my answering machine. Most of us were like yeah, it's about time. We kind of, way back when, we kind of assumed that was the path he was gonna take," Curran said.
That path now includes a Golden Globe for Sudeikis' performance in "Ted Lasso," and shirts to celebrate made by a longtime friend and teammate of the actor behind the character, who both love where they come from.
“I mean, I've been here since 1984 when I moved here and just love being here," Curran said.
Three KC's online-only store is expanding.
Curran has been in touch with some local stores and a local printer to sell shirts with barbecue, Chiefs, Royals and Ted Lasso themes that have become extremely popular.
