About Us

Sea Street was founded in 1990 by James Hatch and Susan Schiro. Like many small businesses we began humbly, in a neighbor's garage.

Our neighbor rented us a third of his two-bay garage on Sea Street in Camden, Maine. The greatest thing about the garage was its prime ocean view. Our equipment was a very-used, 4-color manual press and, hoisted on a wall near the ceiling, a commercial t-shirt dryer. Each time Susan took a freshly-inked shirt off the press, she would need to climb a ladder to place it on the dryer belt. (She considered becoming a Stairmaster champion.)

Since the garage, Sea Street has moved three times to accommodate growth. Currently, we are in a purpose-built facility with state-of-the-art equipment. It is from this location in Thomaston, about 20 minutes from Camden and a few miles from the ocean, that Sea Street prints and ships to retail stores, museums, botanic parks and others.

We are still using water-based inks for their "soft hand" and non-toxic composition. Water-based inks are driven into the fibers of a garment, while plastisol (the other ink), sits on the surface. Plastisol will, over time, crack and peel. Water-based inks will not. You need solvents to clean plastisol-coated screens and the solvent-soaked rags must be recycled. With water-based, we clean with water and our employees are not exposed to the hazards of solvents. Our products are part of our philosophy.

For more information on why we use water-based inks, see our custom printing page.