There are a lot of one-of-a-kinds in Star Valley. There’s the one-of-a-kind elkhorn arch on Main Street in Afton. For many, especially the locals, there are unique recreational opportunities — a secret they don’t want to share. There’s the Star Valley Half Marathon run by one family. And of course, there’s the Intermittent Springs.

Now there’s the Maikuro “Memory Maker.”

Just a few months ago, Swift Creek Trading Company printed its first T-shirt with the state-of-the-art Aeoon Maikuro Industrial DTG/DTF Printer — the world’s smallest industrial direct-to-garment and direct-to-film printer. According to Swift Creek Trading Company’s owner, Michael Horn, it’s the “only of its kind being used in a daily retail setting of on-demand custom printing.”

With the “Memory Maker,” as Horn calls it, Swift Creek Trading has printed more than 8,000 shirts since March of this year and can conservatively produce 65 shirts an hour.

“I was overwhelmed with the vision of how this machine could reach our tourist community and our local community with a quality state-of-the-art attraction right here in Afton, Wyoming, under the elkhorn arch,” Horn said, speaking of the first time he saw the Aeoon Maikuro Industrial printer at a custom apparel trade show in Long Beach, California.

Recently corresponding with SVI Media, Horn related his own adventure of moving from Phoenix, Arizona, to Afton, Wyoming, along with his wife, Tamara, to purchase and take over operation of Swift Creek Trading Company from Deb and Marie Wolfley in the fall 2022. The global software consultant and retired custom home builder had identified some 16 places in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming to move and continue to pursue his lifelong dreams of entrepreneurship. The answer was Swift Creek Trading, whose owners were retiring.

“As a lifelong entrepreneur and a SCORE.org mentor, as well as founder and facilitator of a youth and family entrepreneur program, I feel my calling is to encourage young people to chase their leadership dreams and lead others to theirs,” Horn said.

The Horn family is supported by their children: Michael Tristan, 29; Vartanian Horn, 27; Adaleen Arnett, 23; Sam Arnett, 21; Zorian Richardson Horn, 16; Truman Horn, 14; and 3-year-old grandson, Voddie.

In discussing this family business venture, Michael Horn told SVI that the Aeoon Technologies printer in use at Swift Creek is hand-built and took nearly a year to get into Afton. “Then a couple of months once it was here in town to get it in our store and operational,” he added.

“When I first saw my machine in Long Beach, I immediately had a vision of a family standing on the sidewalk outside our store and me taking their photo under the elkhorn arch and going inside and printing a shirt of the photo,” Horn recalled. “That photo happened a few months ago.”

Horn said that was with the local Walker family. “In fact, they recently reached out for a onesie for a new great grandbaby addition.”

So with this one-of-a-kind printer, Swift Creek Trading Company not only sells shirt in bulk, but also “does custom on-site orders as walk-ins,” Horn said. “Our tourists come in with photos or ideas, and we produce them a shirt while they shop in the store. We run two shifts, so I begin my days at 3 a.m. and work local community events, businesses and promotion apparel printing off store hours and then am available for that walk-in experience.”