History of Surrey Shirts – A Controversial Beginning

Surrey Shirts started from a very simple concept; wanting a good quality fashionable shirt with the word “Surrey” proudly displayed on it.  Unfortunately at the time (May 2012) there was almost nothing on the market while there were thousands of Vancouver shirts readily available throughout the Lower Mainland.

This lack of choice led to the creation of a black pinstriped baseball jersey with the “Surrey Swoosh” design embroidered across the chest.  As expected whenever this apparel was worn in Surrey people took notice and wanted their own.  The demand for the jersey lead to the creation of several Surrey t-shirt designs and the creation of an online store.  Our surreyshirts.com website went live in mid-December of 2012.

On February of 2013, Surrey Shirts received a “cease-and-desist” letter from the City of Surrey.  We chose to ignore it due to several glaring legal mistakes that it contained.  Unfortunately a copy of this letter was leaked to the media from City Hall to CKNW and the David vs. Goliath story quickly took hold.  With front page news and the lead story on many TV stations, the Surrey Shirts website went viral and crashed with 250,000 hits in only half a day.

Needless to say sales went through the roof and under public pressure the legal threat was repealed.  Since that time Surrey Shirts has sold its merchandise online across North America and at various events throughout Surrey.

Our main goal will always be to create pro-Surrey merchandise with a positive image for the city of over half-a-million people, living up to our motto “We Cover SRY.”