Mr. D has Sportswear Business Down to a T

Seeing 5,000 people in an arena wearing your product is a "wow moment."

So, too, is getting hired by Philadelphia's most famous female singer. Especially when you started by selling T-shirts from a car trunk.

Kenn Dranoff -- or Mr. D of , of Warminster -- had planned to be a physical therapist. While seeking his liberal arts degree at Temple, he and two friends attending Penn began selling T shirts.

"We were selling to sororities, fraternities and school events, mostly at Penn," said the Jamison resident.

Dranoff graduated Temple at the end of 1979 but didn't get accepted to Florida International University until August. That delay wound up being fortunate.

"During those nine months I saw an opportunity for the business to grow," he said. "When I got accepted I chose to put that on hold and give the business a chance to take off. I gave myself two years. About five years in, my accountant said this wasn't a good idea but I knew it was alright."

Asked when he felt especially secure in his choice, Dranoff first mentioned his work with the 76ers, which started in the mid-1980s as the result of a mix-up. The Philly native had sat in the 'lucky seat' at the Spectrum for a home game and had never received his gift.

"I complained to (76ers owner) Harold Katz on Mr. D's letterhead and a promotions lady called me and said, 'I notice you do T-shirts. We have a Charles Barkley giveaway coming up,'" Dranoff said. 

"I had the 76ers throughout most of the Harold Katz era (1981-1996)," he added. "It was pretty neat going to the Spectrum and seeing 5,000 people wearing your shirt."

"The next big wow was Patti Labelle," he said.

That was in the early '90s when Patti's sister, Jackie, heard about Mr. D's Tees. "Jackie and I hit it off," and Dranoff was soon making Ts, sweatshirts and hats for several tours.

"I got to travel with Patti," he said. "Patti was just amazing. You talk about down to earth; she was unreal. I even had lunch with her at her house."

Other highlights over the years include his ongoing work with Rita's Water Ice.

"Watching Rita's go from two stores to 400-plus was cool," he said. "Watching the camps I work with go from a few local ones to 200-plus nationwide was very cool."

In the early days, Dranoff said, he had gross annual sales of about $75,000. Today, he said, that figure exceeds $1 million. And that's despite Dranoff being essentially a one-man operation using a few longtime artists and facing heavy competition from much larger companies.

Early on, in 1980, Dranoff hooked up with the late Glenn McKee, owner of . In 2009, he moved his office from Hatboro to the same building as Heritage, at 331 York Road.

"Warminster is great," he said. "The storefront here has been a big boon for me. It's the first time in 28 years that we've had a storefront on a main street. It has brought in a lot of business."

That business involves many of the most well-known places and events in Philadelphia.

"I've done everything from the Frankllin Institute to the Seaport Museum, to the Academy of Natural Sciences, to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I did the Pro Cycling Tour most recently," he said.

And his business hookup with the Sixers isn't the only won that came by happenstance.

In 2001, while visiting Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival, Dranoff and a friend crashed a party. The next day, as he was in line for a ski lift, the man who had hosted the party recognized him. He turned out to Lloyd Kaufman, the well-known B movie director/producer whose work includes the Toxic Avengers series. Next thing you know, Dranoff was doing shirts for Troma Entertainment, Kaufman's film studio.

"The girl next to me's cellphone rings and she gets out of line and I started talking to him ... and we get on the lift together. If that girl's cellphone doesn't go off, I wouldn't have gotten on that lift," he said.

But it's not all about standing or sitting in the right place at the right time. It's hard work, especially as the competition has increased and the economy has slumped.

"It's way more competitive pricewise due to the current economy," Dranoff said. "From my end, we offer a lot more embroidery, signs, banners, we can print on vehicles. ... Whatever you can put your name on, we can provide. We try to be your one-stop shop for promotional needs."

What's the key to more than 30 years of success?

"It's customer service. It's staying ahead of the curve in the type of printing that we have available. It's offering a wide variety of clothing," Dranoff said. "And I'm pretty forward on the fashion curve. I go out west every year for fashion trends. I'm walking in malls all the time, especially ladies stores, not because I'm a pervert but to see what selling and what's not."

And customer service was mentioned first for a reason.

"Basically I know how I like to be treated and I've made sure I treated my customers the same way," he said. "It's always me they were dealing with. They never felt like a number."