‘Pride for everyone’: Couple hopes their Walmart collection makes LGBTQ people ‘feel loved’

KiMi Robinson, Arizona Republic
·5 min read
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Until recently, some of Sergio Aragon and Jesus Gutierrez's biggest moments as the founders of Gay Pride Apparel involved seeing their designs out in the wild, including being worn by the likes of actors Lili Reinhart and Frankie Grande.

Now they can add another milestone to the list: launching an exclusive collection at Walmart stores across the country in honor of Pride Month in June.

“This is, like, the biggest thing that Gay Pride Apparel has done — ever,” Aragon told The Arizona Republic.

They said their designs will even be on display at their childhood “home base” Walmart near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road in Phoenix.

The couple grew up in Maryvale and attended Frank Borman School and Maryvale High School before parting ways to attend the University of Arizona (Aragon) and Arizona State University (Gutierrez). Now they’re based in New York City and run Gay Pride Apparel as “a small and mighty team of two” while working from home. The company, which has an online storefront and aims to “celebrate and empower the LGBTQ+ community," launched in January 2019.

“(LGBTQ people are) going to go grocery shopping and just walk by (the collection), and there's going to be our face. And, like, our story is going to be on the display," Aragon said. "Like, 'How two first-generation Mexican Americans decided to start a store and now we're reaching the masses,’ which, that was our goal.

“Like, we want to have pride for everyone, and it's happening.”

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How Gay Pride Apparel ended up at Walmart

In November 2022, an email from someone purporting to work for Walmart landed in Aragon and Gutierrez’s inbox.

“It kind of just happened (where) they reached out to us out of nowhere,” Gutierrez said. “We thought it was kind of sketchy.”

The message asked whether Gay Pride Apparel would be interested in launching a Walmart-exclusive collection that would highlight LGBTQ businesses during Pride Month in June 2023.

“We're like, ‘This is a scam,’” Aragon said.

After receiving a second email, they decided to respond and see if this was a real opportunity. Turns out, it was — and they are one of four small businesses participating in this seasonal event, according to the duo.

Despite spending several months working on this project, the enormity of the accomplishment didn’t hit until recently.

“It wasn't real until we got the store list recently, right? We're like, 'Oh, we're going to be at Walmart. Like, that's cool.' … You can't really visualize it,” Gutierrez said. “So we got the store list recently and we're like, 'Oh, that's a lot of different stores.'”

Collaborating with Walmart is ‘rewarding, humbling’ — and timely

According to Gutierrez and Aragon, their exclusive collection will be sold at 1,300 Walmart locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The Republic has contacted Walmart for specifics on the collaboration.

“Being first generation (and), you know, growing up low income, to be in the Walmart literally in our neighborhood in Maryvale, is pretty — honestly — rewarding, humbling, emotional,” Gutierrez said. “I could probably start crying now because I haven't talked about it out loud. Um, is this for real?”

The two also believe that the collection’s launch is “so timely” amid what advocacy groups report as a record number of bills targeting LGBTQ people that have been introduced in states across the U.S. this year.

“With all the anti-LGBTQ legislation, being there for a queer person — in, for example, Nashville, Tennessee — like, that's so important and impactful for me and for hopefully a person that walks into Walmart and sees us there,” Gutierrez said.

“In a store like Walmart, it's like: It's there. And you should be proud to walk up to it and grab it and feel safe because, you know, Walmart feels like you should feel safe in that space,” he added.

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‘We’re finally doing what we always wanted’

Seeing Gay Pride Apparel products at Walmart will not only be an opportunity for celebration for Gutierrez and Aragon but also for their families, who still live in west Phoenix.

While the New York City-based couple will venture over to New Jersey to see their collection out in the world, their moms will do the same across the country at their local Walmart.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve ever done, I feel like,” Aragon said. “Like, we've done pretty big things with HBO and Drag Out the Vote and other things like that in the past. But I feel like you can't top one of the largest retailers.”

He added: “I think it's finally putting the seal of approval on our business. … And we're finally doing what we always wanted, to reach the masses and, like, this is going to change people's lives.

“Like, that sounds like a lot, but someone is going to go into Walmart and feel seen, feel happy, feel accepted, feel loved, for just, like, seeing people that represent them.”

These are the products in Gay Pride Apparel’s Walmart collection

Aragon said the following accessories will be sold at brick-and-mortar Walmart locations:

  • Bucket hats.

  • Stickers.

  • Patches.

  • Water bottles.

  • Lanyards.

  • Notebooks.

  • Greeting cards.

  • Enamel pins.

  • Socks.

  • Fanny packs.

There is a map of Walmart stores that will reportedly carry this collection on Gay Pride Apparel’s website. Aragon and Gutierrez believe products will be in stores around the end of April.

Details: https://gayprideapparel.com.

Reach the reporter at kimi.robinson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimirobin and Instagram @ReporterKiMi.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: LGBTQ merch company founders 'emotional' over new Walmart collection