Lee Jeans calls for KC to send Levi’s back to San Francisco

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story indicated that people trading in jeans would be entered to win a pair of tickets to Wednesday night’s World Series game. Lee Jeans is now offering those who donate jeans a chance to win a $1,000 Visa gift card. Two winners will be drawn.

A hometown company wants your jeans Kansas City — specifically your Levi’s.

“As Kansas City prepares to cheer on our beloved Royals, we ask that Kansas Citians support the hometown team and wear their hometown Lee jeans,” Joe Dzialo, president of Lee Jeans, wrote in an open letter to Kansas City residents.

Dzialo pointed out that the maker of Levi’s calls San Francisco home.

So on Wednesday, Lee Jeans will host a Blue Jean Trade-In from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its headquarters at 9001 W. 67th Street in Merriam.

“We ask all Kansas Citians to trade in and donate a used pair of jeans, specifically, but not limited to those other jeans that begin with the letter ‘L,’” Dzialo wrote. “We’ll send them back to San Francisco, but for a good cause of course, because we’ll also donate an equal number of Lee jeans to homeless shelters here in Kansas City.”

Everyone who drops off a pair of old jeans, no matter what the brand, will receive a coupon for 85 percent off an item on Lee.com, in honor of the Royal’s World Series win in 1985.

Donors also will have a chance to win a $1,000 Visa gift card. Two winners will be drawn.

“We think that just the spotlight that the Royals have brought to Kansas City is fantastic,” said Liz Cahill, vice president of marketing.

“It’s really showing off our city,” Cahill said. “We’re so proud to have been a Kansas City-based business for over 125 years. We are very proud to be in the Midwest.”

Lee Jeans sees the trade-in as a way to remind people that the company is based in Kansas City as well as give to people in need.

“Overall, we are helping people get clothed in denim,” Cahill said. “We think everybody looks good in blue, whether it be the Royals’ blue or the denim blue.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2014 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Lee Jeans calls for KC to send Levi’s back to San Francisco."