From Our Family to Your Brand

Some businesses are built from a business plan.

Kukulski Brothers was built from a garage, a good idea, a lot of hard work, and a family that refused to quit.

In 2000, brothers Dan and Dave Kukulski started Kukulski Brothers with a simple idea: give athletes, families, and fans something they could take home and remember.

Dave had already spent years publishing programs for high school championship events. Dan saw another opportunity. He believed the people who worked so hard to make it to a championship deserved something special—something they could make their own.

So Kukulski Brothers began creating customized championship souvenirs, along with the programs sold at the events themselves.

Back then, there were no shortcuts. Much of what we did was done by hand. We could have twenty inkjet printers running at once, cutting transfers by hand and applying them with heat presses. We traveled from state to state by plane and by car, often relying on printed MapQuest directions to find our way to the next event.

It was a lot of work.

And we loved every minute of it.

Over the years, Kukulski Brothers grew from a small operation in a garage into a business serving clients across the country.

We worked with schools, corporations, nonprofits, organizations, and thousands of families. We watched kids become athletes, athletes become parents, and parents return to our events with younger brothers and sisters who were now dreaming of their own championship moment.

Some families told us their kids had been looking forward to the day for years.

We would hear things like, “My son told me the first thing I had to do when we got here was get his Kukulski Brothers shirt.”

At some events, people waited in line for more than an hour.

That meant something to us.

Because we weren’t just selling shirts.

We were helping create memories.

That has always been one of the things we are most proud of.

Kukulski Brothers has always been more than a name.

It has been part of our family’s everyday life.

Dan and Dave built the company together, with their wives, Debbie and Pam, as owners and with their brother, children, extended family, and eventually generations of family members becoming part of the business.

Chris grew up working in the company in many different roles and spent years working directly alongside Dan, helping plan events, develop merchandise, and create designs. Larry, the third Kukulski brother, also became part of the business.

And our employees became family, too.

Many stayed with us for a decade or more. We worked hard together, traveled together, solved problems together, laughed together, and sometimes probably spent more time with each other than we did with our own families.

That is something we will always carry with us.

Kukulski Brothers has never been afraid of hard times.

We survived the recession of 2008.

We adapted when technology changed.

And then COVID brought our primary business to a standstill. States shut down. Championship events disappeared. The events that had built our company were suddenly not happening.

So we changed.

We learned new technologies, expanded our capabilities, and continued finding ways to serve our customers.

Then came a period of unimaginable loss.

Within roughly 90 days, our family lost the three brothers.

Larry passed unexpectedly. Dave passed after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Then, in May of 2023, Dan was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away in July.

Losing three members of our family in such a short period changed us forever.

But it also reminded us of something Dan had spent a lifetime teaching us:

It isn’t the problem you face, but how you face the problem.

And one of the last pieces of advice Dan gave us was simple:

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

So that’s what we did.

And that’s what we’re still doing.

Today, Kukulski Brothers is entering a new chapter.

The Phoenix operation has closed, and the company has moved home to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Chris and John now lead the business.

Santa Fe isn’t just where we live.

It’s home.

It’s family. It’s community. It’s creativity. It’s art. It’s the place we love.

And we believe there is something special about bringing the experience we’ve gained over more than 25 years into the community we call home.

Our business looks different today than it did when Dan and Dave started it.

But the reason behind it hasn’t changed.

We’re still here to listen.

We’re still here to create.

And we’re still here to solve problems.

Today, Kukulski Brothers works with businesses, organizations, nonprofits, schools, events, and individuals to help them build and strengthen their brands.

That can mean promotional products, apparel, banners, signage, stickers, large-format printing, custom products, creative design, or something you’ve never even heard of before.

We have access to millions of products and, after more than 25 years in this industry, we’ve built a network of people and resources that allows us to find some pretty amazing things.

But the product isn’t the most important part.

The solution is.

We don’t believe in putting a logo on something just because we can.

We want to understand what you’re trying to accomplish.

What problem are you trying to solve?

Who are you trying to reach?

What do you want people to remember?

And what can we create that makes someone stop and say:

“That’s a great idea.”

That’s the feeling we’re chasing.

Because a promotional product that ends up in the trash isn’t doing much for your brand.

We want to create something people actually want to keep, use, wear, display, or remember.

Our goal for the future is simple:

Become the place people come when they need a solution.

Whether you’re a local business in Santa Fe, a nonprofit in a nearby community, a school, an organization, or a longtime customer somewhere across the country, we want to be the people you call when you have an idea—or even when you don’t quite know what the idea should be yet.

Chris brings decades of experience in the promotional industry, graphic design, art direction, and product development.

John brings a background in interior design, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico, and a creative eye for how brands and environments come together.

Together, we’re taking everything Kukulski Brothers has learned over the past 25+ years and putting it toward something new.

Something more personal.

Something more creative.

Something built around helping people succeed.

Kukulski Brothers has changed a lot since two brothers started a small business in a garage in 2000.

The technology has changed.

The products have changed.

The business has changed.

Our family has changed.

But the values haven’t.

Work hard.

Treat people right.

Do what you say you’re going to do.

Never sacrifice quality.

Listen before you sell.

Find a solution.

And when life puts a problem in front of you, figure out how to face it.

Then keep putting one foot in front of the other.

We are proud of where we’ve been.

We’re grateful for everyone who helped us get here.

And we’re excited about where we’re going.

Welcome to the next chapter of Kukulski Brothers.

Let’s create something great together.