Our Story

Our story begins in 2010 when a group of college students in Springfield, Missouri decided to found a company dedicated to the principle of offering quality products that help make the world a better place. We started with Global Tees, a custom screen printing business. The countless sleepless nights printing shirts provided the foundation for us to create Five Pound Apparel.

Both our house brand and retail offerings remain firmly committed to our core principles. The name, Five Pound Apparel, comes from the fact that for each of our branded items sold we will donate 5 pounds of food to Ozarks Food Harvest. Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving more than 200 hunger-relief organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank reaches nearly 30,000 individuals weekly and distributes more than 16 million pounds of food annually. We use Alternative Apparel for the vast majority of our shirts, a company with a strong commitment to socially responsible production.

Our in-store retail offerings consist of products from like-minded companies (including Tom's Shoes, Krochet Kids, Out of Print Shirts and many more) so that when browsing our products you can feel good knowing that each one helps someone, somewhere. We do our best to select companies that commit to socially responsible and/or fair trade practices. When a company we carry does not make its own donation to charity we make our own donation to Ozarks Food Harvest for each unit sold. Each product description you'll read in our store will let you know how your purchase will help make a positive difference.

Online you'll find a constant rotation of our own products including Missouri is Awesome shirts and limited edition exclusive offerings. We print our own shirts so supplies are often limited but we're always thinking about new designs.

We invite you to browse our products online, visit our store if you happen to be in the Springfield, Missouri, and contact us with your questions, comments, or input.

In 2017, Ben and Brina Thomas purchased 5 Pound Apparel, LLC from Bryan Simpson. We plan to keep the 5 Pound Apparel as awesome as before. 

Thanks for your support in allowing us to continue offering clothes that are worth the weight!