‘Soft Kentuckian’ T-shirts hit market in response to Bevin’s comment about frigid temps

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin walked into a firestorm of criticism when he told a Louisville radio host that Kentuckians shutting down schools for extremely low temperatures were “soft.”

NBC weatherman Al Roker called Bevin a “nitwit.”

Now there’s a shirt for Kentuckians who want to allude to Bevin’s comment via apparel.

“Soft Kentuckian,” says the shirt from Shop Local Kentucky, with a snowflake in the “o.”

The shirts, in royal blue, are available online in sweatshirt ($36), adult tee ($25) and kids tee ($22).

Rick Paynter, who runs the business with his wife Joni, said the seeds of the idea for the shirt were planted early Thursday morning when he awoke with a child with a double ear infection.

“We literally came up with this at about 7 o’clock this morning,” Paynter said.

By around 10 a.m., the business had sold 600 to 700 shirts, Paynter said, adding that 25 percent of the profits on the shirts will go to the Lexington Rescue Mission, an anti-poverty organization.

Shop Local Kentucky was founded in Georgetown in 2013 as an Instagram account to share Kentucky people, places, and things, according to Shop Local’s website. The store is at 212 Woodland Ave. Shop Local Kentucky’s production warehouse employs a staff of 20 in the Lexington Monument Factory at 771 West Main Street.

Shop Local Kentucky also offers shirts that say “Kentucky Sparks My Joy” — a nod to trendy tidying whiz Marie Kondo, who tells clients to only keep items that spark joy — and “Thank U Next” — a nod to the Ariana Grande song, but a shirt that is also about the inevitability of UK men’s basketball championships.

This story was originally published January 31, 2019 at 11:42 AM.