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Kansas City companies get boost from Chiefs after tough year

Chiefs swag
Chiefs swag
Posted at 1:17 PM, Feb 04, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-05 17:04:18-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you want to represent Kansas City on a T-shirt, you've got plenty of options.

Chiefs fever has made its way into fashion at both Made Mobb and Charlie Hustle, two Kansas City businesses.

"Sales were starting to boom, pick up, Chiefs were winning, sales were steady picking up" said Mark Launiu, co-founder of Made Mobb.

His co-founder, Vy Nguyen, shared just how long their company has been creating Chiefs-themed swag.

"Even when we started Made Mobb, we did Chiefs shirts," he said. "That was like eight years ago when we were like 2-14 season (record), you know. Even at the lowest, we were Kansas City through and through."

Charlie Hustle is hustling to keep up its inventory, too.

"We have a new 'Showtime in Tampa' shirt, kind of a sequel to what we did last year with Miami," founder and CEO Chase McAnulty told 41 Action News.

Both companies also were out-front as calls for social and racial justice rang out in Kansas City last summer. Charlie Hustle donated a portion of its profits to the Prospect Business Association, and later, it put out a call to cover rent or mortgage for local families for three months.

Launiu spent his time during city-wide shutdowns riding around the Hickman Mills C-1 School District, delivering food to kids who needed it. Inspired by the hardships restaurants are enduring, Made Mobb hosted pop-up events and donated the proceeds to those businesses. The business even held a drive to get mental health resources to people in the community who need them.

McAnulty said it's hard to quantify the boost businesses like his get from the Chiefs' success.

He described it by saying the Chiefs "have just been a huge blessing for the city. It's hard for me to describe what the Chiefs have been for us. When I speak for us, it's like the handful of guys that work here now. It's like we're able to keep our jobs. We're able to pay our bills. We're able just to make it by, so shout-out to the Chiefs, man. We appreciate you guys — from all the small guys, the little guys."