Distributorship I.C. Ink, Stockton, Calif., worked with sister company Legends Apparel to provide a construction company with 250 brown heavy-duty canvas Carhartt® jackets. The jackets were embroidered in black, blue, green, gray, white and red. They included the client's logo and a picture of a concrete-mixing vehicle on the right chest, the phrase "Injury & Incident Free 2001" on the left sleeve, and a picture of the concrete mixing vehicle across the back.
Legends Apparel, Stockton, Calif., worked with a distributor to provide Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, Calif., with approximately 4,000 4-color screenprinted T-shirts for the premier of Monsters, Inc. Pixar produced the film in partnership with The Walt Disney Studios. One of the shirt designs considered featured characters Sulley and Mike.
To better control his distributorship's screenprinting and embroidery needs, Sousa purchased Legends Apparel in Stockton, Calif., in 2000. Today, sister companies I.C. Ink and Legends Apparel operate under the same roof. Legends Apparel owns two state-of-the-art embroidery machines capable of embroidering backs of shirts or jackets with up to 120,000 stitches. It also owns an automatic 8-color screenprinting press and a 4-color screenprinting press and provides screenprinting and embroidery services to distributors and end users. In 2001, Legends Apparel worked with a distributor to provide Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, Calif., with approximately 4,000 4-color screenprinted T-shirts for the premier of Monsters, Inc., the third-highest grossing animated feature film worldwide. Pixar produced the film in partnership with The Walt Disney Studios.
When a construction company wanted a safety award for employees who worked 2,000 hours without injury, it turned to I.C. Ink. The construction company wanted to give each employee a jacket embroidered with its logo and the name of the award bestowed. The firm's employees work outside, so the company wanted lined jackets made by Dearborn, Mich.-based clothing manufacturer Carhartt® Inc.
Sousa soon discovered only a few companies in the United States supply and embroider Carhartt jackets. After finding a New York firm that could handle the order, I.C. Ink ordered the jackets and pre-paid the cost of approximately $14,000 (as required by the firm) by credit card. Three months later, despite repeated phone calls from the distributorship, the New York firm had not produced the jackets. Soon, it filed for bankruptcy.
When I.C. Ink first began experiencing problems with the New York firm, Sousa began calling Carhartt and repeatedly inquired about Legends Apparel becoming a wholesale supplier. After conducting a credit check and touring Legends Apparel's facility, Carhartt approved the request. Legends Apparel now is one of a handful of Carhartt suppliers and embroiderers on the West Coast.
After disputing the $14,000 charge with its credit card company, I.C. Ink received a refund for the original jacket order. Working with Legends Apparel, the distributorship provided the construction company with 250 brown heavy-duty canvas Carhartt jackets. Legends Apparel embroidered the jackets in black, blue, green, gray, white and red. They included the client's logo and a picture of a concrete-mixing vehicle on the right chest, the phrase "Injury & Incident Free 2001" on the left sleeve, and a picture of the concrete mixing vehicle across the back. The zippered jackets were water-repellent and featured blanket lining, zippered pockets on the sides and left chest, corduroy collars with snaps for optional hoods, and adjustable waists and cuffs.
--Kara S. Carpenter
Promotional Products Newsletter
Competitive Edge Communications, Marietta, Ga., publishes Promotional Times™, a quarterly, custom-imprinted newsletter for promotional product firms seeking ways to keep in touch with customers and generate business. Each issue contains promotion ideas, research and success stories that illustrate how promotional products, premiums, incentives and safety programs benefit businesses. An e-newsletter also is available. For a free copy of the newsletter, call (800) 575-8050, (770) 578-8050 or (770) 578-4907 (fax). Visit www.promotimes.com. Send email to info@promotimes.com.
Screenprinted Aluminum Beverage Cans
Print On Can Inc., Port Charlotte, Fla., offers 1- to 4-color process screenprinting on recyclable aluminum cans filled with 12 fluid ounces of cola, lemon-lime soda, root beer or water. Other flavors are available with minimum quantities. Six packs are available for an additional fee. Call (877) 695-2235, (941) 255-7800 or (941) 255-7818 (fax). Send email to beverages@printoncan.com.
Sueded Jerseys, Fleece Pullovers, Oxfords, Fashion Knits, Jackets
Diport® USA, Miami, introduced its 2003 product catalog with more than 40 apparel items, including sueded jerseys, fleece pullovers, oxfords, T-shirts, fashion knits, button-down shirts, jackets, Polo shirts, sweatshirts and more. The company also offers custom garment dyeing to match any color, embroidery in as few as five days, a variety of pocket options and unisex sizing. The catalog includes new price structures and new apparel features such as moisture-wicking fabrics, wash-and-wear pique, and additional polynosic fabric styles. Call (800) 351-8262 or (888) 443-4767. Visit www.diportusa.com.
Sales Drivers
Distributors can increase their sales volumes with promotional products.
Tom Sousa isn't someone who lets opportunities pass. In 1985, when he was in college, Sousa earned extra cash delivering orders for a local forms distributor. When the company's owner asked Sousa to try his hand at selling during the summer, Sousa agreed and became a full-time sales rep.
Recognizing the sales potential of promotional products, Sousa introduced such items to the distributorship seven years later. "I was a straight-commission sales rep and was missing out on some pretty good-sized calendar orders," he says. "Promotional products offered another avenue of revenue for the company and for me." In fact, businesses spent approximately $16.6 billion on promotional products in 2001, up from approximately $5.1 billion in 1991, according to Promotional Products Association International.
In 1997, Sousa seized the opportunity to open his own distributorship, I.C. Ink in Stockton, Calif. Today, promotional products account for approximately 60 percent of the distributorship's sales. Apparel accounts for approximately 70 percent of that amount.
