Unique Marks a Franchise Milestone with the Opening of Our First Store in Canada

Unique T-Shirts marks a milestone in our franchise history with the opening of our first store in Canada. Locally owned and operated by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Brian and Shannon Marowitch, Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More of South Edmonton—located in 1311 Windermere Way, Edmonton—opened its doors last Aug. 25th, 2021.

“The opening of our first store in Canada speaks of our commitment to expand our footprint globally as a growing franchise company. We are very thrilled to bring Big Frog’s unique brand of personalized customer service and serve the Canadian local community by providing them with their custom apparel needs, whether that’s for birthdays, school, events, or business branding,” says Big Frog Custom T-shirts & More President & CEO Tina Bacon-DeFrece.

BigFrog has definitely come a long way from its humble beginnings. The company started as a t-shirt store in 2006, opening its first location in Clearwater, Florida before its founders—Leeward Bean, Tina & Ron De-Frece—decided to start franchising in 2008. “It was a neighborhood t-shirt shop that we developed just to be part of the community and service schools and non-profits and small businesses,” says Tina.

Today, Big Frog is not only in more than 20 states in the U.S. but is also a global franchise brand with this recent expansion to Canada. Big Frog Franchise Canada, the group that has helped launch the store, is thrilled about this recent opening. “We’re focusing in Alberta right now but we’ve had interested people from Ontario whom we’ve had conversations with and in BC as well. The plan is to be right across Canada,” says Big Frog Franchise Canada’s Director of Communications Jessica Eggert.

Located in a brand new strip mall, Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More’s owners, Brian and Shannon, are eager to serve their local communities. “It’s very accessible for the one-off t-shirts in addition to business-to-business sales. It’s a concept that is not seen in Edmonton or anywhere as far as I know in Canada,” says Shannon.

Brian agrees, adding that owning a Big Frog store is a fun job. “We look forward to meeting all the new customers and just helping them have fun building their own shirts.”