Mesa, Arizona-based Branded Bills, a custom headwear and apparel company, takes up space in the Footprint Center, the sports arena where the Phoenix Suns play, for the 2022-23 season.

The Phoenix Business Journal reports that the Suns reached out to Branded Bills about the storefront after the apparel company successfully created products for the Suns’ team store for two seasons.

Branded Bills co-founder Dave Dickert tells the Phoenix Business Journal that although the first brick-and-mortar branded store is a success for the company, he isn’t expecting it to bring in tons of revenue.

“It is an awareness campaign with the Suns, and we’ll see what other opportunities it opens up in other arenas here in town,” Dickert tells the Business Journal. “The Suns are a premier organization, and they want products [in their arena] to represent that.”

Typically, all products the company puts out are made-to-order, but for the Footprint Center endeavor, Branded Bills created several Sun-branded hats and shirts for sale through the Suns.

“We’re not going to make money off this store,” Dickert tells the Business Journal. “Rather, people – for the first time for those who have never heard of Branded Bills – are going to see the hat and say, ‘Whoa that is really cool.’ Then, next time they see an ad or want a hat, they’ll think of us.”

Before this, Branded Bills operated largely online since 2016. The nice thing about this new, physical store: the Suns handle all staffing and operations.

Growth and marketing

Branded Bills employs 110 staff at its Mesa facility, and earlier this year, it leased another space for warehousing and storage, according to the Business Journal.

When it comes to marketing, the company relies heavily on social media, but Dickert says he wants his community in Phoenix to know the products are made locally in Mesa. To reach his community, he plans to target events and companies so people know Branded Bills’ story, and where it started.

Check out the promo video for the announcement here.