A world-class festival deserves world-class merch, and this year’s Summerfest store is again raising the bar for official swag to prove you were there.
As the gates swung open for the first day of Summerfest, we caught up with Dan Elias, vice president at The Specialized Marketing Group, Inc. (TSMGI) inside the now year-old Summerfest Store. Business, of course, is hopping.
"There's a lot of work that goes into it," says Elias, who will be on site during the entire run of the fest. "A lot of time to develop all of these products, get them in here, and make people happy."
Elias says a few new items are worth noting, including a Summerfest glitter globe, which is like a snow globe but without the snow. "Inside, we're commemorating the giant instruments that you see at the south gate: the giant piano, the iconic guitar, and drum set."
Here are six other items Elias says are worth checking out this year:
1. Upcycled flannel shirts
2. Dog collars and leashes
3. Acoustic guitar ornament
4. True Blue stage T-shirt
5. Navy heather 1/4 zip
6. Brat T-shirt
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
