MilwaukeeHome T-shirt creator leaving the business but that doesn't mean the brand is done

The creator of the MilwaukeeHome T-shirts, Melissa Thornton Kuykendall, has stepped away from the business, she announced in a video posted to Facebook. 

Thornton said the decision to leave MilwaukeeHome has been one of the hardest in her life but that she's confident in transferring ownership to Steph Davies as of July 1.

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"I'm just really grateful that something that I created on the computer as a gift for me and a friend has become a brand of the city of Milwaukee and it will continue on," Thornton said in the video, posted Friday. "This is basically my farewell. I'm not moving — I'm not going anywhere — I'm just closing this chapter and moving on to the next."

Thornton created the stacked letter design in Helvetica font seven years ago and printed it on a couple of shirts. The design caught on and has become an unofficial flag for the city and a marker of hometown pride. In October 2017, Thornton said she had sold more than 40,000 shirts. 

Davies will continue to print Thornton's design and operate the MilwaukeeHome shop in the Historic Third Ward. Davies owns The Waxwing, an art and gift shop on East North Avenue.

"She is going to love it and take care of it just as much as I did," Thornton said. "I know she's going to take it to the next level and keep the legacy alive. She already has good ideas already. Embrace her. Love her."

Davies described the change in ownership as an "open adoption." She has ideas about how to continue MilwaukeeHome with the connections to local artists she has forged at The Waxwing. 

"I can only do that because of what you made," Davies told Thornton in the video. "You made a damn awesome brand built by the community, loved by the community and it's going to stay because it's so strong that it has to stay. It has to keep going. And you did that — all of that."

"You have made something incredible," Davies said. 

Sarah Hauer can be reached at shauer@journalsentinel.com or on Instagram @HauerSarah and Twitter @SarahHauer.