Building stronger communites one press at a time
Welcome to GRO Prints
Who We Are
The Gro Community Print Shop is a social enterprise dedicated to producing high-quality screen-printed and promotional items. Since 2021, we have specialized in creating a wide range of products, including:
- T-shirts
- Hoodies
- Tote bags
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide sustainable employment opportunities for men and boys met with challenges in finding entry level employment opportunities. Gro Community provides top notch print products, at a competitive price, with quick local delivery turnaround time.
Every dollar spent with Gro Community Print Shop provides a sustainable wage for men and boys transitioning into long term employment opportunities. Each dollar also sustains a simulated work environment in which participants gain and practice the necessary skills to find and maintain employment.
Each function of the printshop is staffed and or managed by an individual with lived experience from design, to screen transfers, print, and logistics, Gro Community Print Shop is creating a eco-system toward long term success for those disproportionately impacted by the justice system through economic mobility, and workforce development.
What We Do
At Gro Community, our participants are integral to every step of our production process:
- Online production inquiry/custom design
- Customized print screens and design transfer to products
- Quality Assurance and shop maintenance
- Shipping/Logistics and/or delivery as applicable
Creating opportunities for participants to lead and take ownership of each production tasks ensures continued employment and advancement opportunities, increased skill attainment, and above all ensure the highest quality for our customers while equipping the production team with valuable skills and marketable work experiences.
Our Impact
When you choose Gro Community Print Shop, you’re not just getting items to promote your brand. You are:
- Supporting Workforce Development and Removing Barriers for At Promise Individuals: Every dollar spent provides training in a quality simulated work environment and employment to men and boys involved in therapeutic programming
- Supporting Skill Growth Development: Each team member is given the opportunity to build and practice industry specific and marketable soft and technical skill sets to assist in upward economic mobility
- Promoting Self-Sufficiency: We help build confidence and independence among our team members, fostering a pathway to a better future.
The Transformative Power of a Print Shop:
The Jenkins Cooper Story
Jenkins Cooper grew up in one of Chicago’s most notorious projects, facing violence and death from an early age. The pull of the streets led him to prison multiple times. However, after his last release, his parole officer connected him with Gro Community, marking a turning point in his life.
Now, Jenkins serves as a screen printing instructor at Gro Print Shop, overseeing daily operations and guiding participants on their journeys to change. With each shirt printed, he delivers “Real Tee’s One Press At A Time,” empowering others to break free from their pasts.
Jenkins’s story exemplifies resilience and the transformative power of community. Join us in celebrating his inspiring journey!
Your support changes lives and communities
Numbers of T-shirts Produced
Participants employed
Customers Served
You will love your order!
Expect Regular Order Updates
Get the support you need from a sales rep
Receive quality printing at a competitive price
Never worry that your order wont be ready on time
3 Easy Steps To An Order You’ll Love
Get A Quote
Customize Your Order
Get A Product You’ll Love
How do I place an order?
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What happens after I place a quote?
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What is the turnaround time?
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Do you have a minimum?
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How should I submit my art design files?
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How do I know if my file is a vector file?
Just because a file is saved as an eps, ai, or pdf doesn’t mean it is a vector file. Vector art is created using vector software programs, such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. So how can you tell?
Enlarge your graphic on your screen (200% or larger). If your edges are blurry and appear to have various “shades” of color, then it is a raster image. If the edges are crisp and the color appears solid, it is a vector graphic.
My art isn't vectored, what should I do?
If you don’t have a vector file, you will need one created or art fees will apply. You can either contact your graphic artist for assistance or Turn90 is happy to vector your artwork for you.
Will I receive a digital proof of my order?
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Can you help me with my design?
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Where should my design be placed on my shirt?
If no placement is requested, we will use our best judgment and standard guidelines to place the design.
Custom screen printing is a craft and therefore each garment may be slightly different. There is no way to efficiently measure the distance from the collar of each shirt as it is loaded on the press. If you request the design be placed 2″ down from the collar, we will use that as a guide and do our best to make sure all shirts hit that target. However, all shirts will not hit exactly 2″. While rare, it is a possibility that placement may be off as much as an inch in any direction. This will not be considered a misprint and we will not reprint or refund these shirts. Anything over an inch from your desired placement will be considered for reprint.
What are ink change fees?
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Can I make changes or cancel my order?
It depends on how far we are into production. Once your order is placed, we begin working on it right away. Every person in our shop will be involved in your order at some point. Most of the time involved in your order is in the Pre-Production phase. Making changes to your order once it has been placed may result in restocking fees, shipping expenses, screen fees, etc. Even if you paid a rush fee, any changes to your order will result in delays and the deadline cannot be guaranteed.
Orders cannot be canceled after production has started. Cancellations prior to production will be billed for all charges incurred up to the point of cancellation (i.e. art time, film/screens, preparation, etc.).
Can I add items to my order?
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Can you ship my order?
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Am I missing a shirt?
Due to the nature of customizing apparel, it is very common for a shirt or two to be missing from your order. Shirts can get damaged during the customization process, or we may not receive our full order from the vendor. To keep prices down, we cannot order extra shirts.
Do you have a spoilage policy?
Yes, GRO Print Shops spoilage policy follows industry standard which is a 2% spoilage rate - meaning that 2 out of 100 of all garments ordered will incur some form of damage during the production process. This is simply an acceptable margin of error that exists in our industry and supply chain.
What Is Spoilage?
Spoilage is the wastage or loss of material considered acceptable during the manufacturing process. A spoilage allowance is how much waste is considered acceptable on an order by the manufacturer’s standards.
When To Order Exact Quantities
It is assumed that delivery of an order less a spoilage allowance is acceptable unless you specify otherwise. While no specific communication is triggered, the order will be invoiced for the actual number of pieces less any spoilage.
If your job requires an extremely specific quantity/size breakdown, we recommend padding your order to ensure that you end up with the correct amount - with a few extras at the very least.
Please let us know before approving your quote if you need exact quantities so we can note it on your order.
How Will I Know If There Is Spoilage on An Order?
As long as damaged pieces are within the spoilage allowance, no specific communication is triggered. Your invoice will indicate how many garments went to spoilage, if any.
How Am I Charged for Spoilage?
You will only be charged for the quantity delivered. You will not be charged for the decoration of spoiled garments.
Can I Provide Replacements for Spoilage After the Job Has Been Run?
Volume pricing is based on one setup. Any overages you are supplying must be available when the job is set up and the order is being produced. You cannot wait to see if there are misprints on an order before ordering replacements.
If you have ordered extra garments to account for spoilage and do not want them printed on, please let us know prior to production. We will return these items to you unprinted and you will not be charged for decoration.
If you prefer to order replacements for spoilage after a job has been run, the order is treated as a new order and the original pricing may not apply.
What Happens If the Spoilage Rate Exceeds the 2% Allowable Rate?
While rare, going over the spoilage allowance is a possibility. Most of the time, you wouldn't know this happened as we can typically replace any garments that fall outside of the 2% range. However, there are some jobs that are too labor intensive to reorder garments for and then set up again, or the reorder/reprint may not be received in time to meet the customer in-hand date.
In these cases, we'll go one of two ways:
If the invoice was partially paid, we'll refund the original invoice purchase price for the damaged garments.
If the invoice is paid in full, we'll credit the account towards a future order.
What about reprints
We go to great lengths to ensure every order that leaves our shop is accurate. Any order printed differently than approved will be reprinted at no cost. All claims must be submitted within 72 hours of receiving the garments. Please call, stop in, or email to submit your claim.
If any errors are the fault of GRO Print Shop, we will gladly accept responsibility and reprint the order correctly. We do not offer refunds unless otherwise approved but will reprint any production errors that exceed the spoilage rate. We do require you to return the items with the error. We will only replace the number of items that are returned.
GRO Print Shop takes great care to count all garments during receiving and final packaging a minimum of two (2) times during the order process to ensure accuracy. Each box of garments is labeled and itemized with the garment and size breakdown as part of our quality control process. It is the customer’s responsibility to check that the order is complete at time of pickup. All claims that garments were shorted from the final invoice must be made within 72 hours of receiving the order.
Will you print on garments I supply?
We highly recommend using our garments for customization. We know where they come from, and they are designed for customization. However, if you insist on supplying us with the garment to be customized, we will try to accommodate you if possible.
Print Only pricing rates will apply and are not reflected in the normal pricing grid. The GRO Print Shop business model is focused on producing the highest possible quality product while providing second chance employment and supportive services to men returning home from prison.
Still want to provide your own garments? Please read this section.
- It is unlikely you will save money providing your own garments. Print Only jobs incur an extra fee to offset our standard garment markup.
- You're assuming more risk due to potential higher spoilage and damages.
- Items have to be counted and sorted before delivery.
- Customers supply a breakdown of colors, sizes, and styles.
- No individually bagged items or an additional fee will occur.
- No reprints.
- There is an added $15 screen charge per screen/color
- Misprints over a 5% spoilage rate only incur a credit for the print cost (not the garment cost).
- The shop isn't responsible for manufacturer defects.
Allowable Defect Rate
All jobs with supplied garments carry a 5% allowable defect rate. That means that a min of 3 garments (all fractions are rounded up) of your order may be damaged, destroyed, lost or for any reason whatsoever not returned to you. While this is rare, misprints do happen.
So, What Does This Mean?
If you provide 100 hoodies, there's a chance that you'll only receive 95 back. Again, this is rare, but it does happen.
If your job requires a specific number of garments, please plan & order accordingly.