Custom Apparel to Warm Up Winter Sales
The holiday sales are wrapping up and January can be a down month for retail. But with a little creative thinking you can keep your t-shirt business growing throughout the winter. Here are some ideas for custom apparel sales this winter.
Winter Sports
Winter sports have started both at the recreational and high school level. The leagues have started but offering Spiritwear for both the players and family members is a good opportunity. Give the customer a chance to show support for the team and the role they play with the addition of Mom and Dad to the print. Ideas can quickly and easily be created in Easy View, your free online designer and shared with your customers to see what they like before you order.
Winter sports include basketball, wrestling. bowling, gymnastics and hockey. The state tournaments start at the end of the month, making this a good opportunity to approach favored teams for Elite Eight, Final Four and championship shirts. Work with the coach now to let them know you can offer quick turnaround as the team progresses. If you have the customer ready to go and the design ready, you can beat the competition’s turnaround and service. Championship events do best if you are ready to act quickly and can capitalize on the celebratory atmosphere.
Cheer and Gymnastic Events
Winter is a big time for Cheer competitions and gymnastic events. All of these have on site apparel sales and if you can get that, it is a huge win. But if not, every team will need spirit wear and accessories to wear to the event. Think t-shirts, hoodies, leggings, and bags. UltraColor Max is a quick and inexpensive way to print leggings!
Recreational Events
Another opportunity are all the recreational events. Many cities have chili cook-offs, snow carnivals, snowman building contests, even snow golf! Many schools/cities offer a ski club. Ski trips are also popular. All of these are opportunities for custom apparel. Attendees want to show they are a part of a fun, unique event and nothing does that like a t-shirt!
Hoodie Printing
One of the best sellers for these winter events are hoodies. Hoodies are easy to print but do require one extra step. Because there is both an obstruction above where you will typically place the print (the hood) and another below the print area (the pocket) the print area itself will need to be raised so when you close your press the upper platen doing the work, hits the print area and transfer on a firm, flat surface.
Tools that can be used for this purpose are:
Interchangable quick change Platens-Hotronix and Maxx heat presses offer interchangeable platens. The 8×10 Tote Master is a great size for most adult hoodies. The 6×10 might be a better choice for youth hoodies.
Craft Press– This press is a great press to take to events due to its small size and it is light weight. But its 9×12 platen is also a great size for hoodie printing.
Mouse Pads-A foam mouse pad is perfect low cost option to slip under the print area. Our mouse pad is 9.25 x 7.75 so make sure your transfer is smaller than this or I’ve seen larger mouse pads from other sources
Print Perfect Pads-these pads were created just for this purpose can come in three sizes 3.5 x 15, 5×6 and 8×10
Silicone mats-one of our customers found these on Amazon. It comes in a 15 x 11.5 size, but it can easily be cut down to make the perfect size.