Chicago retailer and design studio Transit Tees entered 2026 with momentum and renewed purpose.“It was a record-breaking year in 2024, and we improved on it in 2025,” Transit Tees owner Tim Gillengerten said. “It’s always great to have percentage gains from a best year.”The gains showed up in-store and online, Gillengerten said. In December, retail sales at its Wicker Park and Andersonville shops were up 4% year over year, with online sales up 33%. Much of the growth was the result of hiring more people to work on social media and digital marketing. He added a full-time and part-time employee focused on social media — an investment Gillengerten said paid off.The company also increased its presence on Amazon, expanding from eight products to about 30, with plans to sell more.Despite the strength of its online sales, Gillengerten said the brick-and-mortar stores remain central to the company's identity. Visitors often comment on the shop’s authenticity compared with the typical tourist shops, he said.“The store is still a form of entertainment for a lot of people,” he said. Transit TeesAbout: Gift shop specializing in Chicago-themed merchandiseNeighborhood: Wicker Park and AndersonvilleOwner: Tim GillengertenFounded: 2001Staff size: 23Estimated annual revenue: More than $1 million But he has noticed subtle changes in how customers spend.“Wicker Park had an average sale of just over $50 per person ... and they bought an average of four products per visit,” he said. But those purchases were often for lower-priced items like stickers, magnets or small impulse buys. “Stickers are actually our No. 1 volume driver."Chicago Transit Authority-stop magnets also sell in unusually high numbers. The accessibility of small items, like magnets and stickers, help shoppers “have fun, to spend a little money” without hurting their budget during a time of inflation and economic anxiety, Gillengerten said.Some higher-priced items — like custom LED light boxes made to look like the Old Style sign, as well as other Chicago iconography — sell well because they’re unique. Prices are about $130 to $220 for LED signs.“If you have a custom item that you really can’t get anywhere else, those things will always have a lot of value and interest,” he said. Transit Tees has also seen a boost from trend-driven products tied to TV shows such as “The Bear," sports teams and moments in Chicago culture.Gillengerten said managing the operation has gotten more complex, especially with rising labor costs and the city's paid-leave ordinance. The company employs 23 people — the most in its history.As tariffs and material costs on supplies like poster paper rise, he decided not to pass their increased costs on to customers.“Our goal was to hold our pricing,” he said. “I just really wanted to hold the pricing and hope to sell more at this point, and we did.”Instead, Transit Tees got creative. For example, when materials imported from overseas became too pricey, the team pivoted to locally made items — including a 56-page coloring book created with the Chicago Architecture Center.“It was printed in Chicago and designed here at our Wicker Park studio,” Gillengerten said.Transit Tees typically introduces about 200 new products a year and maintains about 2,200 stock-keeping units. This year, the company is developing two new board games and several puzzles. Developing a board game can be intensive and time-consuming — often taking nine months to a year to complete. Transit Tees owner Tim Gillengerten holds cards from the board game called El: The Chicago Transit Adventure.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times “Our games sell more than anything else in the store,” Gillengerten said.Last year, the stores launched a Portillo’s-themed Chicago-style hot dog puzzle, celebrating with a packed event at the restaurant’s Downtown location.Those types of community-building events and partnerships will expand significantly in 2026, Gillengerten said.“There’s so many great Chicago companies,” he said. “It helps them because we have this authentic Chicago flair to our work.”He points out that their work and designs are original. A social media user recently said a Transit Tees design was made by AI, and Gillengerten used the comment to describe how his company makes its products.“Our art directors have been adamant about not using AI for any of our products,” Gillengerten said. “We draw everything by hand.”He said he hopes to help create a strong small business ecosystem.“I want as many businesses for people to explore as possible," he said. "It helps us all.” Editor’s Note: Last year, a new presidential administration stepped in with plans to disrupt the way companies do business through new policies, an effort to spur growth.To help gauge the administration’s impact, the Chicago Sun-Times reached out to 10 Chicago area businesses in January 2025 and shared their plans and concerns for the future.We’re now circling back, 12 months later, to see how they’ve fared. More in this series Housing and Development Evergreen Real Estate Group found growth out West, despite concerns about economy in 2025 The West Loop-based real estate firm started 2025 with concerns about tariffs and labor but have found that it was able to grow thanks to more work in states like Colorado. 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