By Rachel Schreiber

When Caroline Keen Harlock and Linda Jarjoura met at Liberty Athletic Club, a year and half ago, they became work out friends and they discovered they had many similarities. They both came from entrepreneurial families, they had young children and they were active in causes. “We got really close, really fast and decided we wanted to go into business together,” says Linda. As co-owners of LunaTeque, along with Cindy Mark, they have taken cause event participation to a higher level.

Caroline’s grandfather, Cliff Keen, coached UM’s wresting and football for 47 years. He also invented the head guard, head protection for wrestlers; this was the impetus for Cliff Keen Athletics. Caroline worked in sales, marketing and advertising at Cliff Keen. She states, “When I was 13 years old, I would color designs of uniforms and come up with new styles and give them to my dad. He would send them down to the plant and they would manufacture them.” Originally from Westland, Linda’s family owns a jewelry business. She worked as a buyer in the health and beauty department for Kmart.

The two women combined their backgrounds, talents and skills to begin LunaTeque, a company that manufactures cause event shirts via digital processing. They have created shirts for ADHD, breast cancer, the American Lung Association and bees awareness.

LunaTeque is the sister company of Cliff Keen. Caroline says, “We went to one of these events, got a t-shirt and joked, ‘oh, I’ll sleep in this.’ That’s what sparked our interest for this business.” Linda says, “People are proud to have taken part in an event, and they want to show it in what they wear. But those boxy, beefy tees no one wants to wear again. Soon you have a whole of bag full of these t-shirts.”.

She continues, “We’re at the point in our lives when we wanted to do something that would make a difference. Our focus is creating high quality athletic apparel for profit and non-profit organizations. We feel that causes, like cancer and children’s leukemia, are so front and center in peoples’ lives. It’s all around us and it’s a part of everyday life to be part of these events. We wanted to create shirts that help promote these events.” Caroline says, “Because the economy’s so bad right now, we feel now more than ever we have to bring more awareness and help these groups. Many causes have lost some of their funding. We wanted to design high end shirts that are moisture wicking and anti microbial. Organizations can be proud to offer our custom apparel to people who will wear them beyond the day of the event. These people become the ambassadors to their cause.“

The digital aspect gives LunaTeque a flexible and affordable way to order shirts. Caroline explains, “When the events need t-shirts, it’s the last thing they think about. Using screen printing, the entire order has to be placed at one time. There’s a lot of overstock from those who don’t show. Our minimum order is 10 shirts. We came up with creative ways for organizations to include our shirts, such as placing incremental orders or ordering up to the day of the event, and there are no upfront expenditures with us. The participant can order a shirt through the organization’s registration page. Or the participant can pay a higher entrance fee for the shirt. For a fundraising incentive if the organization raises a certain amount, they get the shirt. We’ll even let the participant order the shirts directly from our web store.”

Linda states, “We’re proud to use Michigan printers and artists, the manufacturing is here in the US. Every part of what we do feels so good. We never say, we don’t like this or it’s uncomfortable. We’re working with great people who devote their lives to helping other people. LunaTeque is going to change the face of event and promotional shirts for all types of organizations and companies.”

LunaTeque
Caroline Keen Harlock and Linda Jarjoura
3913 Jackson Road, Suite 5
Phone: 734.904.0408, 734.255.0660
Email: linda@lunateque.com caroline@lunateque.com
Website: www.lunateque.com