March - Tee Madness!

Yes, its March and its time for the annual tournament of 64 awesome brands to face off in TEE MADNESS; a bracket style showdown!

Quite simply Tee Madness takes 64 of the best up and coming t-shirt brands and has them square off in a March Madness style tournament.  After the brands signup, the competition will begin:  Brands square off head to head competing for YOUR vote!

For more information you can visit the site HERE or check out the TEAMS and visit their websites HERE.

This is something that a tee shirt company should have gotten behind!

I came across this via I AM THE TREND and STORE NVY.

Part 2: Success With Tees

When contemplating a tee shirt for a promotion, or as advertising, or for your line of art that you hope will make you a household name, you have to understand that the shirt its self says more about you than you realize.

With a 100% cotton shirt you have a variety of yarn processes, from carded cotton, which is rough, to ring spun, which will produce a much softer garment.  One is much more durable and the other is much more comfortable.  

Of course, now you also have tee shirt manufacturers that take a courser cotton and treat the fabric with silicon to give it a softer hand.  It also can lead to problems with screen printing.  

In regards to screen printing you will also find that the thicker and courser the yarn the better the ink holds, the smoother the ink sits on the shirt, and the longer the design will last.  The best shirts for screen printing are those from 18 singles yarn.  Once you start getting to 24 singles and above you are basically screen printing a "throw away" shirt.

If I was putting my company name on a shirt, or promoting a cause that I believed in I would want a shirt that was going to stand the test of time.

Remember, the graphics may dazzle but if the shirt is not comfortable it will not be worn.  If you are doing a promotion, then you need to realize that you get additional mileage from your promotion the more people wear the shirt.

If you have no clue as to what sizes you will need, then the safe bet is a 1-2-2-1, or 1 M, 2 L, 3 XL, and 1 XXL.

Oh, and always design your graphics with the color of the shirt defined!  Never design on white unless you are going to print on white!  One other key point, a design may really "pop" on your computer screen, but you need to realize that you need the design to "pop" when someone is standing 8 to 12 feet away from someone wearing your shirt!

One last point, if your market is teenagers then slim fit and 30 singles are great shirts but once your customer reaches 26 or 27 years old, slim fit and 30 singles yarn just isn't going to be all that attractive as a shirt any longer!

Here is a great article on T Shirts, Venture Capitalists, and Start Ups!

Part I - The T Shirt

Americans are "consuming" tee shirts: 3.2 billion tees were sold in 2010 alone and this works out to an average of 10 tee shirts per person every year!  In 1990, Americans averaged 4 tee shirt purchases annually; so we have increased our annual consumption of tee shirts by an additional 1 shirt every three years on average.  Makes you wonder what people do with last year's tees?

There is not much that occurs in our lives that does not involve a tee shirt. There is not much that we do in our lives that we could not do in a tee shirt.  But can you name your favorite tee?  Can you remember the label of the last tee you purchased and or received?  Do you even notice where your tee was made?  Do you even realize that a blank, basic tee is a style option?

Tee shirts are the basic building block for individual self expression and for the establishment of a community. They can be the ultimate status symbol or the most utilitarian; the vanguard of the Web 2.0 movement, the whole idea of 'consumer centric' business models began with a basic tee shirt.  The reality is that even today, a couple of hundred of dollars spent on screen printed tees achieves a higher ROI to small businesses than does  a thousand dollars a month spent on social media, pay per click, and or SEO!

Even the Travel Channel diva, Samantha Brown, says you should never leave home without a few tee shirts in your luggage to use as gifts while you travel:

"So it's nice to have something to give -- one or two T-shirts from your own hometown is a great place to start. They don't take up a lot of room in your luggage or add on much weight."

That is a pretty lofty pedigree for something as mundane as a tee shirt!

When I talk about a tee shirt I am actually discussing a blank shirt or what most designers perceive as a blank canvas and most advertisers see as a blank billboard.  What is really interesting, besides how big the market is  is also how diverse it is.  When you are looking at screen print lines the names Gildan, Alstyle, Tultex, Anvil, American, and Alternative pop up and if you ask the general market, you would hear names such as Fruit Of The Loom, Delta and Hanes.  Then of course you have the specialty tee shirt lines such as Continental Clothing and Alta Gracia which offer tee shirts with a social conscious.

I was pretty surprised to read this article and come to realize how shoddy most standards were for your basic tee shirt; personally, if I was involved in any of these companies I would get busy cleaning up our standards!

With the increase in the price of cotton recently we are seeing a variety of ways to replace cotton as a basic commodity in tee shirts; You have Tencel and Hemp as two examples.

Exactly how important is the basic blank tee shirt to the world at large?  Now that one can have their own label put on the neck of shirt, does where one gets their blank tee shirt really matter?  Does how and where a tee shirt is made really matter?  I can't help but wonder with the push toward "customization" in regards to apparel, exactly how much would the consumer be willing to pay for something 'more' than your basic tee shirt?

Can a basic tee shirt be anything more than an after thought to a world focused on customization and individualization?

When The Best Of Times and Worst Of Times Collide

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way..."

   --From Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities


One of the benefits of years of experience in a basic commodity business like tee shirts is that you grow very accustomed to "...the worst of times...." because it becomes obvious after a while that your best years are those years when the general economy suffers.  When the overall economy is "frothy" then you will struggle and when there is a general recession your opportunities for success grow.

You develop a totally different perspective toward business and you are constantly looking at your return on your investment (ROI) for any new endeavor; the concept of 'lean manufacturing' is ingrained in you out of necessity not because you took some class or seminar on the subject.

You come to realize that employees are truly stakeholders in your organization because they sacrifice along with the company; you realize that stability, security, and being a stakeholder are just as important of a motivation for employees as is pay, fringe benefits, and advancement.

I participated in an online discussion last week where the topic was ecommerce, inventory, and efficiencies and I have to admit that I was shocked at how what I considered to be basic common sense was treated as expert knowledge.  Yes, you want to layout your inventory so that order fulfillment is efficient, logical, and error free.  You want to lay it out with a starting point then have the organization match exactly how the goods will be listed on the packing list, from left to right and top to bottom; that way you have a constant forward movement of product.

Can't wait till we get to the session on turning one's inventory!  Not too many folks have any idea how the carrying cost of inventory is such a killer to a company.  Of course, I have to remember that the term is "just in time....."

I can't help but wonder how many screen printers, how many of these new lines of embellished tee shirts, actually know how to price the cost of screen printing into their product?  That would involve time studies...

The hardest thing to get across to ones accounting, sales, or IT, is that while they are critical aspects of the company under no condition will their tasks ever impede and or stop production;  if the computer system has to be brought down then it will be done after hours, if a month end audit has to be performed it will be done after hours.  The reality is with plants in Los Angeles and in Germany you end up with about a 4 hour window in the early morning hours when the computer system can be shutdown or everything waits till the weekend.

I really have no concept of what it feels like to work for a company at "...the best of times..." or to be a wash in cash to where decision making not just involved making a good decision but rather necessitated making the best decision.  Every decision should be made as if the future of the company is on the line.

I spend quite a bit of time monitoring business trends and the world of technology/internet start ups fascinates me because I have no idea what it would be like to have someone invest $20 million dollars into an idea; I always operated on the assumption that a start up should be 6 to 8 months and then you better have a self sustaining income stream.  At which point your goal is to grow your business and increase your margins.

In my industry, your goal is to turn your inventory six times a year at a minimum and never have your cost of goods total more than 60% of your net sales.  Obviously, with B2C sales the goals change and your cost of goods should be dramatically lower than 60%; but you should be able to establish the ideal based upon what percentage of sales are B2C vs. B2B and adjust your ideal cost of goods accordingly.

Customers become real important because keeping an old customer is a lot cheaper than finding a new customer and with the ever increasing pressure of rising wages, fringe benefits, and other commodities, you have to control any costs that you can.  Keeping great employees is also cheaper than attracting and training new employees.

Yes, outside the technology/internet start up industry there does not seem to be much sense of excitement, which probably explains why my views are such at odds with the majority of my counterparts; hey, if it was easy then where would be the sense of accomplishment?

Why T Shirts?

When I grow up I want to be.......

Never once did I ever consider that I would be involved in the manufacture, embellishment, and marketing of t shirts!  Those are Turner Originals in the picture to the left, they are MY creations and they are very different from your run of the mill t shirt in a variety of ways and that is why they come banded!

I would love to lay claim to some life saving invention, or that somehow something I thought about while in college has now come to fruition and is changing the world.  Oh, it would be so awesome to have folks waiting for my next blog post, or to be able to raffle off a lunch with me that would net some charity millions of dollars.  Never happen, because all I do for a living is make and sell t shirts.

When all you have done is make t shirts, embellish t shirts, and market t shirts all your life you find yourself ashamed to tell people what you do for a living; you hesitate commenting on blogs out of fear that someone may click on your profile and realize that you are in the t shirt trade!

You think the whole world has passed you by, that your knowledge is ancient history, that your craft, your vision, is so antiquated that you keep your excitement and passion to yourself. Then you come across an article where Adam Nash, Vice President of Linkedin, and mentor at 500Start Ups among other things actually took an interest in something that you thought the world had given up on:

WHY T SHIRTS MATTER

Then I come to find out that he has three other articles on Tech and T Shirts and has more in the pipeline!

Finally, techies are talking about something I know and understand!  My purpose in life is no renewed!  Mr. Nash, I assure you in four posts you have only scratched the surface in regards to t shirts!

I have been arguing the how, what, why, and when of t shirts for 25 years!  In the mid 90's I came up with the idea for our gift industry start up to package a screen printed ladies tee with one of their potpourri gift products as a spring gift for gardeners: that was their number one selling product that year!  Notice the t-shirts in truck stops?  Well, I sold that idea to a chain over 13 years ago and ended up having to drive a loaded van all the way to Juliet, Illinois in January, to set up the first test store; had to assemble the shelving, load inventory, test the computer system, develop the auto replenishment inventory procedures and then turnaround and go home driving at about 35 miles per hour.  Wanted to make sure that we "executed" flawlessly!

Now we can talk t-shirts! I guess I can start a "T Shirts on Tuesday" series!  With a hat tip to Fred Wilson of course!

The Future of Big and Tall: The Little Guy!

I was always tall for my age; way taller than anyone else my age and because of this I have always been interested in the big and tall apparel market.  So, in 1990, when an opportunity presented its self to create a label I made sure that we also developed a line of big and tall tee shirts under the label, "Turner Originals."  Having now achieved 20 years of market success its time to focus on the next 20 years and there is no place better to seek out opportunities than to explore the bigger market;  the key to success in niche markets is to adapt a big trend to the specifics of your niche market.

Now, the plus sized apparel market as of 2008, represented approximately $29 billion dollars in annual sales and is projected to grow to over $42 billion dollars in annual sales by 2012; and overall, plus sizes represents the fastest growing niche within the apparel industry.  There are three major retailers in the big and tall menswear market, JC Penney, King Size, and Casual Male, and they are all aggressively attempting to increase their market share of this profitable niche market.  Casual Male has come up with "DXL" or "Destination XL" which represents a big and tall mega store and JC Penney, not to be outdone, has announced that they are opening up 300 big and tall retail stores under the banner, "The Foundry Big & Tall Supply Co." and the interiors of these concept stores are awesome as shown below: 

These stores are big at 6,000 sq. feet, and according to Myron Ullman, CEO and President of JC Penney:

“With big & tall customers making up over 50% of the male population and spending nearly $6 billion on apparel, footwear and accessories, we saw an opportunity to serve the fashionable and professional big & tall customer who is often frustrated by the lack of sizes and fits, availability of brands and the overall lack of customer service in their category.  Offering an upscale environment and extensive assortments of apparel, footwear and furnishings created with them in mind, The Foundry Big & Tall Supply Co. is positioned to address all of the needs of the big & tall customer -- one of the largest and fastest growing segments in the market place today.”

King Size Direct, a catalog company that I have been shopping from since the early 1980's, took to the internet, while Casual Male bought their retail competitors and developed a catalog/internet sales channel and JC Penney is finally stepping up its activities.  While a consumer may favor one over the other the reality is that their product lines are not all that much different; the labels are different but the product is the same.

What the plus sized consumer wants is variety and individualism;  the days of being "branded" by the clothes you wear are over and thus, Nautica, Dockers, and Timberland no longer have the drawing power because they are so readily available through numerous retail outlets. 

The future belongs to companies such as Mod Cloth and or Bonobos (I am not the only one who believes this considering that these two companies received a combined $21 million dollars in venture capital funding).  Its not about "what" you offer as it is "why" and "how" you market it.  In my niche  companies like Threadless and Cafe Press have led the way to a new consumer centric, Web 2.0 inspired business model.  I have been a fan of Threadless for a long time and I cheer them on every chance I get because you cannot help but admire the brilliance of the model!   Threadless continues to blaze new paths and has now expanded successfully into accessories, kids wear, and I am sure that they will continue to expand their retail stores and will continue to add product lines in the future.

From information garnered via the internet, by combining tee shirts and screen printing with a Web 2.0 business model you create a new sales channel with average net margins of 35% and annual sales increases of around 50%!


From consumer centric to sized centric! 

The plus sized consumer wants product that are specifically designed for their body types and trendsetting at the same time!  Its about capturing the energy and essence of lines like Affliction, Abercrombie and Fitch, and or Hollister; with designs specifically developed for a plus sized consumer on tee shirts that are truly big and tall.  This just isn't going to cut it anymore:

Its time to offer the big and tall consumer the same consumer centric options available to all consumers and to develop lines of product for retailers that are something more than just a mere license of what is available any where else.  Its obvious that the market is big enough, and growing bigger every day, for the plus sized consumer to have the same choices and variety, but choices and variety that are specifically tailored for the niche! 

By the niche for the niche: Or, size centric!

Niche Markets - Big and Tall

Niche marketing, or marketing a niche product of a niche market to a particular consumer.  Or, more to the point; we sell Big (2X to 8X) and Tall (XLT to 6XLT) tee shirts and these are our customers: 

But, I am 6'10" and I only weigh 265 lbs and I am one of our customers also; so is most of the NBA and NFL players!  I came across an interesting statistic at Spreadshirt, which is a German based equivalent to Custom Ink and or Blue Cotton, and that was that while 3.4% of their German male customers claim to wear the size "XL or larger" t shirt in 2008; 33.6% of them actually ordered an XL or larger t shirt from Spreadshirt in 2008! 

Now, I wear a 2XLT and I know that if I visit a site like Spreadshirt, Custom Ink, Blue Cotton, Threadless, Cafe Press, or Zazzle, I am not visiting to buy anything because nothing there will ever fit me.  Since I visit these sites regularly, because shortly I hope to create a big and tall (I call it a 'sized centric' business model) of their business model, I also notice that more and more they are telling their customers to order one size bigger than what they normally order as their shirts are "slim fit."

I read where the average American has 26 screen printed tees in their closet!  I don't have any where near that many but its because I can't find screen printed tees in my size.  Which brings us to one simple question, "How many screen printed tees would I own if I could be sure that they would fit me?" 

Most people think of screen printed tees as an impluse buy, and for the most part they are.  But an impluse assumes the fact that you can enjoy the product; or you can wear the shirt.  I can't count the number of times that I participated in events where with your registration you received a t shirt and when asked my size I said, "whatever..." because no matter what nothing would fit.  Care to know how many times people went on vacation and returned with a t shirt for me that was not any where near the right size but was "...well, this was the biggest shirt we could find..."?

Over 76 million American adults are obese and another 13 million children are obese; that is on top of the 34% of Americans who are just pleaseantly "over weight."  This also does not include the number of Americans, such as myself, who are just big. 

If you think, "...76 million adults at an average of 26 screen printed tees each....." you realize that you come up with a market for 1.976 BILLION t shirts!  Then if you add in a few thousand for the obese children, a few more thousand for the percentage of Americans who are overweight, and then add another few percentage points for those Americans who are just naturally big ( or those who are big due to steroids) you have quite a market here.