The 乌鸦传媒淪traight Outta Rutland乌鸦传媒� brand is everywhere乌鸦传媒攐n the backs of vehicles, t-shirts and even the occasional beer holder.

Two Rutland men, Greg Greenough and Dale Martell, owners Valley Contract Screenprinting, are behind the growing phenomenon.

Six years ago, Greenough乌鸦传媒檚 nephew was in Grade 11 and for his birthday, the duo made a Straight Outta Rutland shirt for him. The slogan paraphrased the title of U.S. hip-hop group N.W.A.乌鸦传媒檚 song Straight Outta Compton.

乌鸦传媒淲e just made it up as a joke乌鸦传媒� he thought it was kinda cool, Straight Outta Compton, Straight Outta Rutland, that sort of thing,乌鸦传媒� said Greenough, who along with Martell grew up in the community.

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But the pair didn乌鸦传媒檛 expect the brand to blow up like it did.

乌鸦传媒淓veryone at the school absolutely loved it. So we did up a couple for ourselves. A couple of weeks later we put them on our Facebook pages and everyone started commenting on them,乌鸦传媒� Greenough said.

The pair made around 50 shirts, and it took off from there. Straight Outta Rutland now has its own Facebook page and features pictures of Rutland residents wearing them on their travels around the world.

乌鸦传媒淲e went from 50 likes to 2,000 likes in two days,乌鸦传媒� Greenough said. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e got pictures of people in China, Australia, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, New Zealand乌鸦传媒�. everywhere.乌鸦传媒�

Since their inception around 5,000 to 10,000 shirts have been printed, which Greenough said he never expected. The purchases have been steady as well, with peaks at Christmas season and in the summer months.

乌鸦传媒淣obody really relates it to Compton,乌鸦传媒� said Greenough. 乌鸦传媒淓veryone who buys it for Rutland is for Rutland pride.乌鸦传媒�

He said the majority of buyers are women aged 40 to 70, who buy the shirts for family members.

And he feels they remain popular because of community pride and because its Rutland-area residents enjoy sticking it to the rest of Kelowna.

乌鸦传媒淧eople born and raised in Rutland have always been super proud of (their community) and we love the fact that everyone else in town doesn乌鸦传媒檛 like us,乌鸦传媒� Greenough said.

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While Rutland sometimes gets a bad reputation, he describes the area as 乌鸦传媒渏ust the working class part of town.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚f I had done Straight Outta the Mission, or Straight Outta Kelowna, I wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 have sold 20 shirts,乌鸦传媒� he said.

乌鸦传媒淓verybody from outside of Rutland hates Rutland乌鸦传媒� every demographic. But every age group (in Rutland) loves the fact they乌鸦传媒檙e from Rutland and nobody else likes us. We find it funny.乌鸦传媒�

Growing up in Rutland, Greenough said the area is no different than other parts of Kelowna.

乌鸦传媒淚 played sports here all my life, and it乌鸦传媒檚 no different (here)乌鸦传媒� he said.

To find out more about Straight Outta Rutland, visit the business乌鸦传媒檚 Facebook page .

carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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