Living iCoStore’s Core Values
When one of iCoStore’s clients, a wind energy company, prepared to open a new wind farm in rural Kansas, the event represented far more than a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Community members, local landowners, company executives, and the full project team were coming together to celebrate years of planning and hard work.
To help commemorate the occasion, iCoStore produced custom branded hats for the event.
Then, the afternoon before the ceremony, everything changed.
Whitney, the client’s account manager at iCoStore, received a call from the customer explaining that the shipment had arrived, but the hats inside were not the correct order. Two similar boxes had been accidentally mixed up before shipping.
With the event beginning at 9 a.m. the next morning in a remote part of Kansas, there was almost no margin for error. The correct hats were still back at iCoStore.
Whitney immediately informed Tom, iCoStore’s president, and the team began exploring every possible shipping solution to get the order there by morning. Overnight carriers, rush services, airport freight options. One by one, every solution fell short.
By 4:30 p.m., it became clear there was only one option left: hand-deliver the order.
Tom canceled his evening plans, booked a last-minute flight to Denver, packed the hats himself, and headed to the airport. On the way, he called the client to let her know iCoStore was going to make it right no matter what it took. The client was understandably stressed knowing company leadership, employees, and members of the local community would all be attending the ceremony the next morning.
After a delayed flight, Tom landed in Denver after 11 p.m., rented a car, and began the 250-mile drive into rural Kansas fueled mostly by determination and a couple of Red Bulls.
Around 3:30 a.m., he arrived in town, managed a quick nap, and met the client’s team at breakfast before the event to personally swap out the boxes.
The correct hats were there before the ceremony began.
Tom then turned around and headed back toward Denver knowing iCoStore had fulfilled its commitment.
What makes this story meaningful is not the size of the account. It’s the principle behind it.
Mistakes can happen in any business. What defines a company is how it responds when they do.
At iCoStore, one of our core beliefs is simple: “Do the right thing.”
That philosophy is not reserved for presentations or posters on a wall. It guides how we operate, how we support our clients, and how we make decisions when challenges arise.
This story spread throughout the company without the need for a formal announcement because employees recognized exactly what it represented. It was proof that the values we talk about are values we live.
We may provide branded merchandise, apparel, uniforms, and print solutions, but behind every order is a client trusting us with their brand, their event, and their reputation.
That responsibility matters.
And sometimes doing the right thing means going the extra mile. Or in this case, 1,200 of them.
