There are many ways to support your local firemen and women. One of the easiest ways is to make a purchase from First In Buffalo – a screen printing, embroidery, and custom apparel outfit, located in South Buffalo. The firemen owned and operated business, located at 389 Abbott Road,
First In Buffalo is the brainchild of firemen Mark Sumbrum and Brad Agustin. The business partners came up with the idea when Mark’s mother bought a desktop embroidery machine back in 2018. Mark and Brad decided to embroider 25 hats for their fire companies – Brad is with Ladder #5 in Larkinville, and Mark is with Ladder #6 (Jefferson/Kingsley).
“The hats sold within minutes,” said Mark. “So we bought a bigger machine. “Then we bought an even bigger machine. We cater to firemen, but we also sell the non-uniform swag to the general public – the apparel has no rank. It’s not frowned upon to wear a BFD sweatshirt – it’s a sense of pride. We want to spread the word.”
I was happy to hear that it was OK for the general public to wear a BFD sweatshirt (for example), without being subjected to any sort of stolen valor issues. After all, who doesn’t want to support their local hometown heroes? Mark did tell me that the first rule is that there are exceptions to every rule.
“We make an exception for people with disabilities,” said Mark. “It’s also acceptable for children to wear the apparel with rank insignia. Other than that, the apparel is mostly generic that anyone can wear, without the status of an engine company/ladder number. We make a lot of apparel for firefighters that are off-duty, so that they can represent their job, and the city of Buffalo.”
Not only are Mark and Brad selling their merch all over Buffalo, they are also shipping to retired firefighters all over the country, including Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, and Florida. Orders get sent to Rochester and Syracuse as well.
“There’s a huge uptick in sales right now, due to the holidays,” said Mark. “We’re burning the midnight oil. That’s because we’re a true mom ‘n’ pop shop. We have shop hours, but I live five minutes away… so if someone calls, I can swing by.”
At this point, between being dads, firefighters, and owners of a burgeoning small business, Mark and brad are doing everything that they can to keep their heads above water. Adding to the frenzy, First In Buffalo is producing apparel for local hockey and baseball teams, individuals, businesses, and they anticipate on landing a couple of school accounts. Of course they are also taking orders from ladder companies and police districts.
“There’s really not much that we don’t do,” Mark told me. “It’s been an interesting three and a half years. It all started with the original hats with the standing buffalos, ladder, and number. We look forward to expanding and growing our customer base. People can give us a call, or find us on social media. We have merchandise samples to choose from, firefighter apparel in the shop… we can do bulk orders, or if we’re out of a design, we can do a one-off direct-to-film heat press.”
Whether it’s an embroidered chore coat for a fellow firefighter, Buffalo beanie hats, or custom embroidered quilted jackets, the sky is the limit at First In Buffalo. Feel free to stop into the shop, make a phone call, or reach out on Facebook or Instagram. If you play your cards right, you could be the first of your friends to rock some First In Buffalo apparel. Holiday gift giving doesn’t get any better than this!
First In Buffalo | 389 Abbott Rd., Buffalo, NY | (716) 697-2060 | shopsouthbuffalo@gmail.com
Photos of Mark and Brad are thanks to Engine 32, which answered a call of duty to take photos just in the nick of time. The photos are credited to Captain Sikora, although it was a team effort.