The wearables market has experienced explosive growth during the last decade. In 1990, it grossed approximately $1 billion, according to Promotional Products Association International. By 2000, that amount mushroomed to more than $5.2 billion, accounting for approximately 30 percent of distributors' promotional products sales.
A large percentage of the growth can be attributed to the popularity of business-casual days in offices, says Dan Hartlieb, CFC, president of Midwest Printing & Promotions LLC, a 6-year-old distributorship in Schoolcraft, Mich. More and more companies are purchasing jackets, hats and shirts sporting their names and logos, he says. Studies show that corporate wearables help firms present unified company images, build trade-show traffic and motivate employees. Corporate wearables account for more than 35 percent of Midwest Printing & Promotions' sales.
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To ensure they're selling
only the highest quality products, some distributors test apparel items
before selling them to customers. They wash, dry and wear the garments,
looking for items that fade, shrink or fall apart.
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A Perfect Fit
Distributors offer tailor-made advertising with promotional wearables.
Some corporations use wearables to present unified company images and motivate employees. What's more, the garments become promotional billboards when employees wear them after hours.
Photo courtesy of American Image, Houston.
The Internet's Role in the
Promotional Products Industry
More than 60 percent of end users use the internet at least once a month to look for promotional products; more than 70 percent expect to increase their usage of the internet to search for promotional products. Source: Promotional Products Association International's Buyers Study 2000
The Growth of Wearables
Sales of promotional wearables grossed more than $5.2 billion in 2000, up from approximately $1 billion in 1990. Source: Promotional Products Association International
Other popular wearable items include imprinted baseball jerseys, T-shirts, sweatshirts, gloves, boxer shorts, ties, rain ponchos, bomber jackets, winter hats, nylon windshirts, Hawaiian shirts, sweaters, scarves, aprons, vests and fleece pullovers. Ideal prospects for such items include banks, schools, trade associations, real estate companies, hospitals, hotels, insurance firms, churches and athletic associations.
Recently, when a lawn-care service company with 35 branches wanted to update its employee uniforms, it turned to Midwest Printing & Promotions. The distributorship provided the company with 2,000 100-percent cotton Polo shirts embroidered with the client's logo on the left chest. Approximately half of the branches ordered forest green shirts embroidered with khaki thread. The remainder ordered forest green, white, yellow, navy and black shirts embroidered with white or khaki thread. Each of the firm's employees received four shirts. Midwest Printing & Promotions also provided the firm with 500 forest green sandwich caps (caps with trims of contrasting-colored thread "sandwiched" along the edge of their visors) with khaki trim and 500 forest-green microfiber jackets. Each was embroidered with the firm's logo.
—Kara S. Carpenter
Fields Manufacturing, St. Cloud, Minn., offers its 2002
award item catalog, featuring acrylic awards, tile awards, wooden plaques,
certificates, perpetual awards, brass awards, die struck medallion awards,
marble and cultured marble awards and sculptures, dimensional glass awards, golf
awards, fine art plaques and more. The catalog also includes moisture-absorbing
stone coasters, cork-backed coasters, brass-tone coasters, mousemats, placements
and business-card-in-a-bottle hand-crafted sculptures. For more information,
call (800) 654-1517 or (320) 252-5504 (fax), or visit www.fieldsmfg.com. Send email to customerservice@fieldsmfg.com.
Note Pads, Frames, Greeting Cards
PRINT-TECH Inc., Madison, Wis., introduces its 2002 P4 line catalog, featuring five sizes of customizable note pads, two sizes of customizable 12 pt. stock paper photo frames, custom greeting cards with tea bag inserts and more. For more information, call (800) 682-7746 or (888) 682-7746 (fax).
Stainless Steel Mugs, Tumblers, Bottles
Gordon Industries Ltd., Long Island, New York, offers
patented 4-color process printing on its stainless steel tumblers, insulated
vacuum bottles, sports bottles, and commuter and desk mugs. The dishwasher-safe
imprinting won't fade, according to the company. It also offers its Gordon
Sinclair® line of premium promotions, including silver-plated picture frames,
photo albums, pen holders/picture frames, memo holders, compact mirrors, candle
holders and dinner bells. The line also includes acrylic tumblers, therapeutic
massage pens, Glowrite LED pens, leather portfolio planners, CD holders, AM/FM
radios, alarm clocks, sports binoculars, reusable cameras, tools sets,
flashlights and more. For more information, call (800) 226-0808, (516) 825-8300
or (516) 872-5844 (fax), or visit www.gordonsinclair.com. Send email to
info@gordonsinclair.com.
