- The Marlin Outlet is the first in-person school store for Port Aransas Independent School District school spirit gear.
- Port Aransas residents, Matthew and Marcie Lawson, own the store.
- 10% of all net sales from the Marlin Outlet go back to Port Aransas ISD athletics.
- The Lawsons created a t-shirt with proceeds going towards relief for victims of Hurricane Helene.
The Marlin Outlet is a brand new,first-everr in-person school store for Port Aransas Independent School District school spirit gear. Before now, there were only online stores and order forms for school spirit gear. The owners of The Marlin Outlet, Matthew and Marcie Lawson donate ten percent of net sales from their store back to Port Aransas ISD athletics in partnership with the booster club. They also recently created a t-shirt that says "Together we are one coastal community" with proceeds going towards relief for victims of Hurricane Helene.
"The athletic booster club and other organizations were selling marlin spirit items, but we didn't have like a physical retail place to send people. It was, you get a form sent home, in your take-home folder, or you have a link to an online store, maybe. But having a physical storefront here in Port Aransas where people can come and look at a variety of items for Marlin spirit gear and be able to purchase them at any time, was exactly what we've been hoping for," Port Aransas ISD Superintendent, Dr. Sharon McKinney said.
The Lawson's have children who attend school in Port Aransas ISD. The Marlin Outlet is more than just a store to the Lawson family.
“The school has brought a foundation for our family in regards to the community here in town. We moved in after the hurricane, so we weren’t necessarily a part of that community rebuild, but we’ve been here since then, and this is the only place we would call home," Matthew Lawson, Co-Owner of The Marlin Outlet.
They are using their resources to help people in other coastal communities across the country who were impacted by Hurricane Helene.
“We've created a shirt that's one community, one coastal community," Lawson said. "And that shirt, the proceeds of the shirt sale are going to be able to go to The Samaritan’s Purse, to be able to help out, so anything that we can with our capabilities here in this store in this town.”
In addition to The Marlin Outlet's countrywide impacts, locals in Port Aransas are also receiving some of the benefits.
“Not only is he selling all the Marlin spirit gear, but is also generously donating 10 percent of the profits to the school district in partnership with the athletic booster club," Dr. McKinney said.
Matthew and Marcie Lawson hand-make everything in-store through embroidering and screen printing.
“So when we decided to open up the boutique for the school district, we realized that it would be a lot more cost-effective to be able to do it in-house. So I decided to re-learn all my crafts and bring it back in-house. Got the embroidery machines and the printers to be able to do everything," Lawson said.
The Marlin Outlet accepts all kinds of custom orders such as single orders, group orders, and company logo orders. They even make orders for other school districts with their logo. All Marlin Outlet orders can be placed on the store's website.
The Marlin Outlet is still accepting orders for the Hurricane Helene relief shirts on their website. The Marlin Outlet's hours are Tuesdays-Saturdays, from 8:00am to 6:00pm. Their Instagram page is The Marlin Outlet and their Facebook page is The Marlin Outlet.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
