New Brunswick family cooks up Maritime Living Rocks clothing line

The Cook family of Scoudouc, N.B. is turning out T-shirts that are selling right across the country, especially with Maritimers working away, who are in search of a slice of home.

The only thing that might make the Cook family’s story more Maritime, is if they were making their shirts in the kitchen.

“We have a ball,” said John Cook, creator of the home-based apparel line, Maritime Living Rocks.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We have a ball," said John Cook, creator of the home-based apparel line, Maritime Living Rocks.

Back in 2014, Cook, along with his wife Lynne and two girls, Emily and Ashley, launched the line of clothing.  Cook says it’s a growing trend in communities across the country.

“Everybody is proud to have their shirts from their area and I think that is what it’s about,” he said.

The only difference with the Cooks is that they do it as a family unit.

Lynne, keeps track of orders and sales and she says product creation is an entire family affair.

“We kind of all work together as a family with new ideas for logos to keep creating. We all give our opinion,” she said.

The girls are learning that in business, you need to be resourceful. Their workshop is tucked away in their unfinished basement, which cuts down on expenses and they’ve banded together to get creative even with the equipment they use to make the shirts.

The family built a belt drier, which looks kind of like a pizza oven, for the T-shirts printed with ink.

“It basically works the same,” said John, who uses the contraption to cure the ink.

“My daughters will turn around and help and do some vinyl weeding,” said John.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My daughters will turn around and help and do some vinyl weeding," said John.

Vinyl weeding is the rather tedious job of peeling back excess vinyl on the logos.

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He said Emily, 13, and Ashley, 11, play a huge role in running the family business, which they plan to take over one day.

“We learn new stuff every day, so it’s fun,” said Ashley, who is most eager to take over the family business one day.

“It’s really fun because it is a family business and we get to spend time together,” said Emily.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's really fun because it is a family business and we get to spend time together," said Emily.

While dad looks after the ink screen printing, he says he takes comfort in knowing his girls, who are heading into their teen years, are close by.

“I know what they are doing and at the same time, it is a family thing that we all enjoy,” he said.

They sell their products online and load up the family car and hit markets across the Maritimes.

“Basically when we go on a job, we go on a little vacation too cause we get away,” he said.