OpenStore Acquires Apparel Brand HistoreeTees

Tyler Pittman, Business Development

May 21, 2024

• OpenStore has acquired apparel brand, HistoreeTees, formerly an OpenStore Drive company. 

• Co-founders Pete and Chris Heckman chose OpenStore Drive because they weren’t quite ready to sell their business. 

• But after a year of seeing what OpenStore could do with the brand, they decided they were ready to exit.  

We’ve acquired an OpenStore Drive company, apparel brand HistoreeTees! Founded by father-son duo Pete and Chris Heckman and their passion for history, HistoreeTees makes history-themed t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, and crewnecks. HistoreeTees’ mission is to make history “dynamic, entertaining, and educational.” 

This is the second OpenStore acquisition for co-founder Chris Heckman, who sold his yoga apparel business Yogaste to OpenStore in 2021. Pete and Chris weren’t interested in selling HistoreeTees initially, so they signed up for OpenStore Drive, which allows founders to hand over management of their business to OpenStore for 12 months while getting paid monthly. 

During those 12 months, OpenStore managed to scale HistoreeTees even further. We launched over 900 new items and added 31K new customers to HistoreeTees’ customer base. In December 2023, HistoreeTees had its best month in sales to date, doubling the previous high a year earlier. When Pete and Chris realized how OpenStore had scaled their brand over the last 12 months, they decided to sell. 

OpenStore’s mission is to help founders realize their exit through a simple acquisition process. Chris described selling to OpenStore as “the easiest acquisition process ever.” For Chris and Pete, selling is helping them get started on their next adventure, allowing them to “reinvest the time and capital into a new business.”

We’re so excited to continue scaling Pete and Chris’ brand and providing customers with funny and informational apparel! Congratulations to Pete and Chris on their exit! We’re so excited to see what’s next for this entrepreneurial family.