Business could never, ever be better than this, thought Matt Saxon during the eclipse of 2024, when lines of customers stretched out the door of his small Irondequoit storefront waiting for his screen-printed T-shirts.
But Saxon — and fair to say, most anyone living near the Great Lakes — never counted on President Donald J. Trump in August dubbing Lake Ontario "Lake America" in an executive order as part of a trade war with the country's neighbor to the north, Canada.
What's in a name? Everything, because business has been booming for Saxon's Lake Ontario Press.
Saxon learned of the name change while on deadline at his regular job as graphics manager at the Catholic Courier newspaper. After brushing up on the news, he quickly came up with a few
designs and got set up the next day.
The lines out the door returned, and then some. And they're still coming.
"It's been great for us," Saxon said. "It's been nonstop."
Here's what Lake Ontario Press offers
Saxon started his screen-printing business about 20 years out of his house in Irondequoit. Around the time of the pandemic, he jumped on the opportunity to open the storefront on Culver Road, across the street from Parkside's Whispering Pines Miniature Golf and just up the hill from the lake that inspired the name of his business.
There, customers can find Lake Ontario shirts in an assortment of colors, including Carolina blue and heather navy.
Shirts with fish designs, as in largemouth bass and rainbow trout, are big sellers. At the end of October, a Lady in White design inspired by the ghost that supposedly haunts the nearby Durand-Eastman Park will be available.
But many prefer when Saxon opens his store for popular pop-up events. Customers will bring in shirts, and he'll add the design in a process that takes all of 90 seconds or so.
He also sells a lot of shirts at festivals, and by a lot, that used to mean 10 shirts in a particular size and style. At the two-day Purple Painted Lady Festival in Wayne County earlier in September, he sold out.
"It was everything that I had," said Saxon, who after the Saturday show returned home and had to prepare more shirts for Sunday.
With all that success, why try something different? Saxon hasn't made a Lake America shirt and probably won't.
"I think that would be against brand," Saxon said.
Lake Ontario Press business booms since 'Lake America'
Since the lake's name change, Saxon, who has fielded interviews with reporters from The Washington Post and The Globe and Mail in Toronto, Canada, said online requests for shirts have poured in, from as far west as Oregon, Florida to the south and many points in between — Canada, too.
He and his wife Kim try to keep up with the crazy demand as best they can, and customers have been understanding about delays, knowing that it's just the two of them doing the work.
"They realize we're just a couple of people with a small business doing the best we can," Saxon said. "It's very heartwarming."
At some point, Saxon said he will need a few days of calm to let all the hoopla soak in.
But the controversy, which he said seems like "such a silly thing to waste anybody's time with," certainly has struck a chord.
Residents rally for Lake Ontario
The Ontario County Board of Supervisors in October may consider a resolution, which notes the county was named after Lake Ontario. Canandaigua City Supervisor Nancy Yacci supports the resolution because actions to "create chaos, disruption and distraction" need to be called out, she said at the board's meeting Sept. 17.
The Wayne County Board of Supervisors, following the lead of Rochester City Council and other municipalities, recently passed a resolution that notes the historical and geographic significance of the lake and the "significant" costs to taxpayers and businesses caused by its renaming, and that it will continue to refer to the body of water as Lake Ontario.
Linda Quinlan, who for years chronicled the doings of her town for the Irondequoit Post newspaper, is a Lake Ontario Press regular who likes Saxon's unique designs as well as supporting small local businesses. Yes, she and her sister were among the many who waited in line for her Lake Ontario shirt.
This Great Lake's name goes back hundreds of years, and it has a lot of history and a lot of meaning for a lot of people, Quinlan said.
"I guess most of us don't see the point of running around, changing the names of things," Quinlan said. "We like the name Lake Ontario, and we want to keep it."
Will it last?
Saxon said it's amazing to see how many people rally around this and want it to stay Lake Ontario, but he doesn't want to hazard a guess as to how long the controversy will last.
He's too busy making Lake Ontario tees.
"I think it's going to be one of those things that disappears and is forgotten about in the not-too-far future," Saxon said. "As long as people keep wanting it, we're going to keep doing it."
For more on Lake Ontario Press
Lake Ontario Press screen printing studio is at 4368 Culver Road. The next live T-shirt printing event, during which customers bring in their own shirts and Saxon will print the Lake Ontario design on it for $5, is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3. For details on upcoming events, classes or more information, visit https://www.lakeontariopress.com/.
Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. He can be reached at mmurphy@messengerpostmedia.com. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: ‘Lake America’ controversy is booming business for Irondequoit T-shirt shop
