Are We in a Recovery? Check the Underwear

There have been a lot of quirky economic indicators bandied about of late, from sales of lipstick to pick-up trucks — with varied results.

But men’s underwear sales even have the endorsement of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, since they tend to be one of the first things men stop buying when times get tough.

“Guys don’t buy underwear unless they absolutely need it,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group. So, while companies are offering up signs of recovery in their latest earnings reports, we wondered: What does the underwear drawer say?

“I think men’s underwear sales are in recovery mode,” said Aaron Tucker, President of CarefreeCasuals.com, an online underpants shop. He says customers had been hunkering down during the recession, buying a lot of the value (i.e., cheaper) brands and going for the multipacks when they did.

But things started to turn around in the first quarter.

“I started to notice the underwear business gain some momentum probably about five months ago,” Cohen said. Men’s underwear sales are up about 8 to 9 percent this quarter from a year ago, according to NPD, after sliding 4 to 6 percent during the recession.

Men’s undershirts in particular are seeing strong sales, benefiting from the trend of the undershirt as a regular piece of clothing as well as the recovery in sales of the item as an undergarment.

Over at Carefree Casuals, men’s underwear sales are up a whopping 40 percent year-to-date, double the growth in the women’s category. True to trend, the more expensive brands like Bali and Barely There are also starting to see a pickup in demand.

“The customer, I think, is shifting back to the brand they used to buy,” Tucker said.

And, underwear makers are taking notice: They’re expanding their product lines with more colors, more prints and more fabrics and even introducing new categories — like shapewear for men.

Spanx, which is known for its line of lady-slimming products, just debuted its men’s line —Man Spanx — in May.

Yes, we’re talking about mirdles (man girdles) but there’s so much more: Another hot category is underwear that enhances everything from the butt to the, ahem, frontal profile.

Oh, and this recovery comes just in time: National Underwear Day is coming in early August.

Make sure your celebration is festive — even if it’s brief!

Amazon Takes Stand Against Ending Saturday Mail

Amazon Takes Stand Against Ending Saturday Mail
Doug Caverly | Staff Writer

Small businesses that rely on the United States Postal Service to get merchandise to their customers may have a friend in Amazon. Amazon has come out in opposition of the USPS's proposal of discontinuing Saturday deliveries.

As Amazon Vice President for Global Public Policy Paul Misener said in a statement to Congress, "Customers have come to appreciate and expect Saturday delivery. While they may be willing to wait until Monday or Tuesday for a bill they don't really want; an advertisement they didn't ask for; or a magazine to which they subscribed long ago; they expect the items they purchased this week to be delivered as soon as possible."

Which makes sense. Heck, in many cases, Saturday deliveries are even preferable, since a customer who works a nine-to-five, Monday-through-Friday sort of job will have more time to enjoy a new product if he or she gets it mid-afternoon on a Saturday.

Then here's another problem with the USPS discontinuing its Saturday deliveries: big corporations would probably have much better luck than small businesses when trying to negotiate with other organizations about a replacement service.

So it could be a very good thing that Amazon, with its market cap of almost $53 billion, has taken this position. Just about any coalition of small businesses would have trouble generating as many headlines and as much awareness.

Of course, if the USPS isn't able to save money in this manner, we could be looking at more expensive stamps or some other undesirable outcome.

Keeping Your Stand Out Factor

Everything has become a commodity. Every day we find more and more inexpensive versions of the same things. Companies quickly catch up with what others have done -- and even a good idea quickly becomes commoditized.

So, how do you keep your edge? How do you get remembered? How do you develop your SO -- your Stand Out factor?

Even though we know that new, different and distinct is what gets people's attention, most of our services and products look like what people expect or what has already been done. We are stuck in a pattern of doing what we've always done. Bland. Boring. Blah!

Stand Out Thinking

Business and life successes are in the "could be," not in the "what is." The result is that much of the work place, and the workforce as well, is operating with yesterday's approach even though today is different.

Customers and employees become bored. This causes employees to change jobs in the hope of finding more excitement and a way to significantly contribute. They look for organizations that commit to the largest experiences and impact in what they do because it's a lot more fun. And, if the organization could be ordinary or extraordinary, why not work and shop in a place that is extraordinary?

The key to Stand Out thinking is being different -- better. The goal is to know what others do and insist on doing something better. Don't try to fit in; separate yourself because in a crowded marketplace fitting in is failing.

As we are herded into similar thinking, much of our ability to stand out is challenged, diminished or eliminated. Over time we become great at doing what others did. We learn to be okay with blending in and fitting in. The good news is that we can relearn how to Stand Out.

     Source: Jay Forte is a performance speaker, consultant and founder of Humanetrics, LLC. He applies years of research, along with his training as a CPA, to help organizations maximize performance and profits through improved employee productivity, creative thinking and customer service. He is the author of Own It! Getting Your Employees to Think Like Owners.

How to Increase Apparel Sales for Promotional Distributors

A plain green polo is just a polo, but when you add a logo to it then it becomes a targeted advertising piece. Apparel decorating is a key part of any successful promotional business. Today's digital technology makes it especially easy to create wearables and logo apparel.

Wear It Well

T-shirts are one of the most popular apparel items to feature logos. Unfortunately, they often end up shoved in a drawer after being worn once or twice. Getting imaginative and offering your customer more than the average t-shirt will help your business become more profitable.

Start out by focusing on different garments such as jackets, scarves, gloves, hats and even flip flops. Work with your decorator and take time to order digital transfers and then apply it to different types of garments. Get wild and jazz up tees, polos, hoodies and other wearables with transfers in metallic and puff, to create unique textures and designs.

Digital transfers can be applied in seconds and they offer many opportunities to be creative and boost sales. This method is ideal for creating samples and helping you to underscore the power of promotional wearables. Relatively inexpensive, it is easy to create different logoed items to bring to a sales presentation to showcase your customer's brand.

Don't limit yourself to current customers either. Explore and target some of the top markets. Sports, education, and health offer huge sales potential. Think about the number of people you connect with on a daily basis and talk to them about their needs for promotional wearables. Remember the decoration is what makes the garment promotional, but it's up to you to make the sale.

For more information on how to become a distributor for Carefree Casuals in the Promotional Products Market and increase your overall sales please visit the Corporate Accounts department of our website.

Supplier Profile: Cutter & Buck

Company Spotlight: Cutter & Buck Article Reprinted From Wearables Magazine 2/15/10

Joel Freet is the manager of corporate sales for Cutter & Buck Wearables: How was Cutter & Buck founded? Joel Freet: We were founded in Seattle in 1990 by two partners and a handful of employees that had left other Seattle apparel companies in the late '80s. Cutter & Buck was established as a classic American sportswear company and quickly found a home in specialty retailers, resort shops, and golf clubs across the country. Wearables: What type of wearables does the company offer? JF: In our Cutter & Buck brand, we offer performance fabric polos in a range of styles that range from on-course performance to executive level luxury. Dress wovens, sweaters, sweatshirts, and casual and performance outerwear are all included. In our Clique and New Wave Brands, we have stylish basic cotton and performance polos, cotton and polyester fleece, and basic and performance outerwear. Wearables: What new trends will be or have been introduced for 2010? JF: We have continued to add to our Epic Easy Care collection of woven shirts for men's and ladies, and this category has been trending very well for us in 2009 and into 2010. Performance overknits are blowing out in retail as well as corporate, and ladies outerwear continues to be successful by pushing the limit on styling. Wearables: What markets are attracted to CB the most? JF: Certainly the Services sector has been a large part of our business because we have really great options for employee purchase programs. Because of our intense focus on supplying complimentary ladies items, we have built very strong tradeshow and event business as well.

The ABC's of B2C

Published in the Scottsdale Airpark News
September 2009

Author: Kimberly Hundley

Killer Apparel Group
7585 E. Redfield Road, Suite 105, Scottsdale
(480) 248-9248
www.CarefreeCasuals.com, www.KillerChef.com Twitter @KillerChef

Laser focus. That’s what Aaron Tucker says took his online retail business to new heights in the midst of a recession. “We opened our doors Sept. 1 of last year and will have generated about $1 million in revenue by the end of August, which isn’t bad for our first year.”

Killer Apparel Group is now the parent company of three apparel websites: www.CarefreeCasuals.com, www.KillerChef.com and www.TrueUniform.com. When Tucker launched his new enterprise last year, he wasn’t exactly starting from scratch. He bought the company outright from Uniforms Manufacturing (UMI), the old family business he’d been involved with since his teen days.

After college, Tucker had tackled new markets for UMI, a longtime maker of industrial work and prison clothing. He targeted commercial businesses, landing clients such as Home Depot and Discount Tires, then braved the field of logoed apparel and other promotional products. His entrepreneurial mind always clicking away, he noticed a hole in the ad specialty marketplace.

An Idea Was Born
“There was a trend where bigger-name retailers were starting to produce products for this corporate apparel market, but nobody was consolidating it into one area for repurchasing,” he says. Because high-end companies such as Cutter & Buck required promotional product distributors to have a direct account with them—and make a minimum purchase that might start at $5,000—smaller guys didn’t have the wherewithal to buy the clothing.

Tucker leaped into the void, committing to volume, pulling together brands and creating a one-stop-shop for the promotions industry.

In 2004, the products available were up on the Internet for all to see. The website had been geared for corporate customers conducting B2B transactions. And a funny thing happened. “I never thought someone might want to buy one golf shirt with me,” Tucker says. “But they did. We were getting growth on the retail side.”

Realization
Tucker took measures to completely revise the site’s focus from a B2B to B2C, business to consumer. Product reviews and live chat were enabled to build client trust. The company threw out the purchasing methodology that allowed distributors to send in purchase orders that had to be hand-entered into the computer system. “We put the accountability on the customer as far as getting the order right,” Tucker says.

As more items were added, Carefree Casuals took shape as a top provider of “lifestyle fashions, lifestyle values.” Shoppers were finding the familiar quality brands they loved—such as Tommy Bahama and Lee Jeans—at incredible prices.

“One way we found early traction was getting on some comparative shopping sites,” Tucker says. When savvy buyers visited sites such as www.Shopzilla.com, they would see Carefree Casuals’ deals listed next to competitors’ higher prices.

“We buy a lot of the same garments at cost that department stores would buy,” Tucker says of his merchandise offerings. “We get a discount because we are a reseller.”

Unlike brick-and-mortar stores or manufacturers, however, Carefree Casuals doesn’t have to stock inventory or worry about keeping up with seasonality. They operate lean and pass the savings on to the customer. “We’re really a data maintenance business,” Tucker explains. About 3,000 items, for example, are on both www.CarefreeCasuals.com and www.KillerChef.com. As prices, colors, and sizes come and go, a mountain of data must be maintained. Tucker outsources the majority of this task to a firm in India because it’s cost-effective, allowing Killer Apparel to operate with just six employees and keep up the profit-margin.

“I’ve heard of so many companies over-hiring, and staff sunk them because they felt obligated to keep these people employed rather than maintain the health of the business,” Tucker says. “When you’re in startup mode, every dollar makes a difference.”

Killer Time
Shortly after making cash-cow www.CarefreeCasuals.com his own, Tucker launched the hospitality-clothing line www.KillerChef.com. The timing could hardly have been worse as the recession rolled through hotels and restaurants. Still, Tucker is optimistic the website will eventually prosper, because he sees a shimmering unfulfilled need.

A single billion-dollar company “pretty much owns” the hospitality industry’s apparel market, he explains. “We’re looking to chew at their heels a little bit and offer something we don’t believe they offer: local service.”

So far, Killer Chef is having more success with independently owned hotels than with franchises tied into big contracts. Recent clients include the Airpark’s Xona Resorts and Thunderbird Suites.

Before the end of the year, Killer Apparel Group will unveil its third site www.TrueUniform.com, focused on hunting gear, the outdoors and work apparel. The company will continue to focus on the four key factors that make its business model work: 1) product reviews 2) offer brands that shoppers know 3) build trust with product recommendations, reliable sizing charts and clear descriptions, and 4) a fair return policy.

Sitting at the helm of his own business has restored Tucker’s passion for his work. He credits the Entrepreneur’s Organization in the Valley for giving him the guidance and inspiration to finally break the family ties.

To others with independent dreams, he says, “As long as you’re laser focused on what you’re passionate about and your target market, I think you’ll be successful in almost any market.”

Tucker’s BIZ Tips
What should business owners and would-be entrepreneurs keep in mind as they chase their dreams? Aaron Tucker, director of Killer Apparel Group, offers this advice.

• Cash is king. You can only go as far as your cash.

• You don’t necessarily have to defer your dreams; you just have to make sure you’re very focused. When I decided it was time to leave my other business, I didn’t even think about going to get a job from someone else. I was preprogrammed that I was taking www.CarefreeCasuals.com. I was laser focused and continue to be. You can run your dream business out of your house, and you can do it part-time, but be laser focused on it.

• Read Norm Brodsky’s book The Knack. There is no such thing as job security anymore; the only security is your own sense of self-worth and your knowledge about how to earn a living.

• Make sure you are watching your numbers regularly. You can’t manage what you can’t measure, so if you don’t have good numbers, you can't effectively run your company. Especially with an Internet business—there is a lot of analytics.

• While someone else is making cutbacks and trying to save themselves money, you have a great opportunity to get out there and compete.

Is Insect Repellent Safe For FR Clothing?

There has been much discussion about the use of DEET insect repellent because of concern about West Nile Virus. DEET (chemical name, N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is the active ingredient in many insect repellent products. It is used to repel biting pests such as mosquitoes and ticks. Products containing DEET currently are available to the public in a variety of liquids, lotions, sprays, and impregnated materials (e.g., wristbands). DEET is designed for direct application to human skin to repel insects, rather than kill them.

DEET is the active ingredient in the most successful & popular insect repellents and is HIGHLY flammable, especially in concentrated form.There are products that contain about 26% DEET, which is the most you can buy over the counter. However, 100% DEET spray is available on the Internet.

The best advice is to spray any insect repellent ONLY on skin and never on clothes. There is a significant risk that clothing sprayed with DEET could ignite and continue to burn if exposed to an ignition hazard. In this scenario the DEET is serving as a fuel source.