Our Story
The idea for The Man Registry came to Jimmy Horner in 2007. A friend’s wedding was approaching, and he was having trouble finding the right gift to purchase from the couple’s wedding registry. He just couldn’t get excited about monogrammed bath towels, flatware sets or fitted bed sheets. While these are appropriate wedding gifts, it didn’t feel right giving them as a gift to one of his best guy friends. This is where the idea hit him: there should be a website where grooms can register for fun and useful gifts that their friends would be excited to give. Gifts like barbecue grills, barware, tools, outdoors gear and even man cave supplies.
Jimmy shared the idea with his brother Bobby Horner and brother-in-law Chris Easter and the wheels were in motion. The three of them launched The Man Registry on March 15, 2008. In addition to the wedding registry, the guys had also determined that the wedding industry as a whole wasn’t paying enough attention to grooms. Because of this, they also created a blog full of how-to articles, checklists and guides designed to successfully guide men through every step of the engagement, wedding planning and honeymoon processes.
In true entrepreneurial fashion, The Man Registry was run from a series of spare bedrooms and garages in the early days. Over time, the company grew into their first office in Overland Park, KS (which we quickly outgrew and moved into our current HQ and fulfillment center in Olathe, KS). A lot has changed in the last 18 years. While still maintaining a focus on the wedding registry business, The Man Registry has found new and exciting avenues of growth. They have become one of the leading providers of groomsmen gifts — with an additional focus on personalized gifts and promotional items. The site now features over 1,000 unique products, most of which can be personalized for no extra cost.
Our founders: Chris Easter, Bobby Horner and Jimmy Horner
5 Great Reasons to Shop at The Man Registry
We’re a family-owned business that love the satisfaction of providing unique gifts
Today’s ecommerce landscape is dominated by Amazon and other mega-companies. On the flip side, we’re a family-owned small business that’s been steadily built from the ground up since 2008. While we love finding ways to expand our business, our goal isn’t to become a faceless mega-corporation where customers and employees are just numbers. We’re real, honest people who love the satisfaction of providing unique gifts for groomsmen, fathers, husbands, boyfriends and all the other special men in your life. You’ll probably never receive an order from us delivered same-day via a drone, but we guarantee you’re buying from a company with values that appreciates you and does business the right way.
We live and die for customer service
From top to bottom, The Man Registry team lives and dies for customer service. Every decision we make starts with the question “is this good for our customers?” Our top goal each day is doing whatever it takes to turn our first-time visitors into lifelong customers. This means that regardless of whether you need help with placing an order, tracking down a package, making sure your order arrives on time or finding the perfect gift – we’re there for you 100%. See for yourself by reading some of our customer reviews.
We meet deadlines
We got our start in wedding gifts so we understand weddings and how important it is that we meet the quoted production and shipping time frames that we advertise. We have 18 years of experience and know that receiving groomsmen gifts after the big day renders them useless (and leaves the bride and groom in a severe pinch). Because of this, we’re always thinking in terms of timeline. Simply put, we meet deadlines. If it means being here until midnight to make sure orders go out on time, we’re up to the task!
Our eyes are always open for the latest trending gift ideas
Many of our customers find us for the first time while shopping for their groomsmen gifts. But we’re not a one-and-done website that you’ll never need again after the wedding day. We strive to offer a unique selection of products that are perfect for Christmas, Father’s Day, birthdays, and other special occasions. Our eyes are always open for the latest trending gift ideas. We’ll never be the site that offers the same boring stuff you see everywhere else.
Security is a priority
Security is a priority. It’s our responsibility to provide a secure and private online shopping experience for our customers. To safeguard against fraudulent activities, we never store customer credit card data and encrypt all transactions.
FAQ
Why are you called The Man Registry? Are you a wedding gift registry?
We used to be (read our story above). Now we focus on providing awesome gifts for the groom, groomsmen, best man and rest of the wedding party.
I need groomsman gift suggestions. What’s popular in 2026?
We strive to provide a mix of unique and fresh gift ideas along with tried and true classics. Check out this list of the best 2026 groomsmen gifts we created to help you find the perfect gifts for the members of your wedding party.
Do you have any tips on buying groomsmen gifts?
There are a lot of questions when it comes to groomsmen gifting etiquette. Our helpful shopping guide offers recommendations on how much to spend, who to give to, when to give out and more. It’s a must-read for grooms who want to nail their gifts.
Do I have to be getting married to use this site?
Nope! Our gifts are great for all occasions and can be purchased by anyone at any time. Please keep us in mind for Father’s Day, Christmas, birthdays and all other special events where unique gifts are called for.
Giving Back
Giving back to our community is a core part of our company values. We’ve been very fortunate over the years to get to know some amazing organizations (both in our hometown of Kansas City and beyond). We provide our employees two paid days off per year to volunteer and are always looking for new and worthwhile ways to give back. For information on our charitable giving or for donation requests, you can contact us here.
Some of the charities and organizations we’ve worked with over the years:
Children’s Mercy Hospital
Children’s Mercy Hospital is one of the top children’s hospitals in the country (and a beloved institution in our hometown of Kansas City) Our co-founder Chris Easter is an alumni of the Mercy Ambassadors leadership board – a group that organizes fundraising and engaging events within the Kansas City community. Each fall you’ll find The Man Registry competing in the annual Children’s Mercy Topgolf Tournament!
Wish Upon a Wedding
Wish Upon a Wedding is an amazing organization that grants weddings and vow renewals to couples facing serious illness or a life-altering circumstance. They have local chapters throughout the US and have granted over 140 wedding wishes to date.
Coterie Theater
The Coterie Theater is a nationally recognized non-profit children’s theater in Kansas City. Their mission is to provide professional classical and contemporary theater for children from all walks of life in the KC area. They also offer educationally dramatic outreach programs in the community.
Dress for Success
The mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
Steps of Faith Foundation
Steps of Faith is a nonprofit public charity dedicated to providing prosthetic care, hope, and comfort to amputees needing financial support. They are based in Kansas City but serve the needs of amputees throughout the US.
