Henning native opens new shirt business

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Kendal (Bjorklund) Arndt is providing a stylish way to showcase businesses and community events in the greater Henning area.

The Henning-native has been slowly growing her custom shirt company KM Designs over the past two years from just embroidery to screen prints and more. The company, which is short for her name Kendal Marie, began after Arndt tapped into an idea that had been in the back of her mind for several years. 

“Embroidery has always been in the back of my mind for years now. My family travels the United States showing cattle and whenever we would go to a large cattle show there would be vendors set up offering embroidery services. I thought it was always neat how they would take our farm logo and add it to apparel and hats,” she said. “When I realized that there was such a demand for this type of thing, I decided to take the leap and purchase my own embroidery machine. The machine is quite heavy so it actually arrived on a semi. My brothers and I actually had to take my office door off just to get it into its spot.”

What began with embroidery in a corner of her Henning home has morphed into more custom apparel for things like hats, sweatshirts and logo design work for companies in need of a fresh look. Recently, Arndt created the homecoming t-shirts for Henning High School, but has also completed projects for My Kind Of Bank, 210 Tires and Towing, Legacy Power Line, Mid-Central Equipment, Rossco Equipment, Little Bar and Grill and several other businesses as well. 

“I have slowly started adding more elements to my business like direct to film transfers and screen print transfers,” said Arndt. “I am lucky to have a ‘mentor’, Rylee, that my family knows through showing cattle. She actually does the same thing I do but in North Dakota. I’m lucky to have her whenever I have questions, she’s been doing it for a little longer than I have.” 

In addition to the conventional brick and mortar businesses, Arndt has also completed jobs for Bjorklund Farms, Nelson Family Farm, Eckhoff Farms, Eckhoff Reds, Torgerson Farms, Lakeside Farms, Wallevand Farms and Lueders Farms.

Working with such a wide variety of clients has been something Arndt has enjoyed as part of her new business venture. In fact, there is a certain sense of pride she gets when she sees some of her custom creations come to life and worn in the community.

“I enjoy working with businesses and people who want to watch their logo or design come to life. I love seeing people wearing sweatshirts, hats, vests, etc. that I have put a logo on,” said Arndt. “Right now I offer embroidery and screen prints mainly for businesses. If you tell me you want 50 hats or 50 sweatshirts made with your design on it, that’s my specialty! I also do a little bit of logo design work with if people need help coming up with a design for themselves or their business.”

Arndt recently launched a new website that can be found online at where people can see samples of her work, contact information and even some groups who have stores open to the public. For more information about KM Designs visit the Henning business online at www.kmdesignandembroidery.com.