SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES have led a lot of shop owners to explore other options and get creative with their inventory and offerings. Sometimes your favorite blanks aren’t available, or maybe a typically reliable supplier just hasn’t been cutting it. To give your business a new opportunity and expand your inventory options, consider getting into the corporate branded polos sector.
“Polo shirts are the staple of our most successful Fully Promoted locations. Apparel is our number one selling item,” says Michael Brugger, president, Fully Promoted. “Apparel also has its supply chain challenges, but with the diversity of the apparel lineup, it opens the doors of swapping out brands or similar colors so the customer can get a branded apparel product that works. To help navigate supply chain issues, it’s important to know what’s in stock at your fingertips. We’ve been integrating directly into a lot of the big suppliers, so the sales team can see what’s in stock and what’s not.”
Additionally, the average corporate employee has become much more accustomed to relaxed, more comfortable attire as the pandemic introduced many to remote work. Branded polos are a great option for companies looking to appear professional, let their employees enjoy a sense of comfortability, and rep a brand-name quality shirt.
“With so many recognizable brands in our industry (Nike, Under Armour, Adidas), people feel better when they’re wearing a branded shirt from a name-brand manufacturer. Overall, employers like collared shirts because when you have consistent uniforms, it becomes very clear who can help their customers,” says Brugger. “Employees like them because they’re comfortable and they don’t have to worry about what to wear. A branded and approved business shirt will always be welcomed in the workplace by employee and employer.”
How do you decide which type of collared shirt blanks to purchase? Always keep two things in minds: your customer’s specific needs and versatility.
“Our number one seller at Fully Promoted is a 100-percent polyester pique sports polo shirt. We are constantly talking to our customers and following up with how the performance of a shirt works for their specific needs so we can make modifications to the different shirts we provide,” says Brugger. “The type of collared shirt a landscape manager needs compared to a restaurant manager is going to be different, and we see differences in style and blends depending on the vertical market.”
What’s the best way to go about actually branding these polos? You essentially have two options:
“Embroidery is the preferred method of decoration when it comes to corporate shirts, with the exception of performance polos, which may be too thin to properly take embroidery. In those situations, we typically use a flexible heat pressable film,” says Brugger. “In some cases, we will do screen printing on collared shirts that get used in outdoor settings, such as for contractors or landscapers. They don’t need the embroidery look but do need the company awareness.”
If opportunities to attain new business in the corporate branded apparel space seem tangible, give it a shot!
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