With tours and concerts canceled, bands and artists have had to find new ways to get their merchandise out. Thankfully, we live in an age where they can sell merch online and mail them directly to fans. A few bands and artists have taken their quarantine merch sales game to new, more altruistic heights by tying in special items with charitable donations...
Brendan Menapace
It’s not every day that there’s a global pandemic that reaches every single facet of human life, transcending borders, languages and politics. So, it’s only natural that a few opportunistic apparel and merchandising companies are looking to trademark the coronavirus for their own gain...
Not all face masks are created equally. It’s natural to feel a bit overwhelmed by all of the information, or feel unsure about which mask types or fabrics work best (or at all) for certain applications, but this is critical knowledge if you're brokering sales on masks for medical facilities or other applications...
For events like SXSW, there’s no sense in throwing out all of the merch just because things didn’t happen as planned. With technology being what it is, a lot of these events that can move online have. In these instances, promotional products companies are still fulfilling their orders, just a little differently...
Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) announced today that it has decided to cancel PPAI Expo East, scheduled for June 3-5 in Atlantic City, N.J. In an email statement, PPAI president and CEO Paul Bellantone outlined the association’s decision amid the COVID-19 pandemic still growing in the U.S....
The president is reportedly set to give the green light to defer certain tariffs by three months. The move would only pertain to what Bloomberg called “most-favored nation duties,” which means tariffs put in place as a result of “enforcement action,” like those on Chinese goods, are still in place. But it would ease tariffs on some apparel products...
Working from home can be a challenge. But, just because we might be in a different work environment doesn’t mean that productivity needs to take a hit. Your output and focus can remain the same as it was in the office, as long as you focus on the right things. For some tips on bossing it from home, we talked to a work-from-home pro...
Legal nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government Foundation (L4GG) announced last week that it is launching a program called the Small Business Remote Legal Clinic, which will provide pro bono legal consultations for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group, which is made up of more than 125,000 legal professionals in the U.S., will provide…
Fanatics is halting its production of MLB jerseys, and is using the material to make gowns and masks for medical professionals dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. They might even look a little familiar to Phillies and Yankees fans. Fanatics executive chairman Michael Rubin discussed the plan in a series of tweets yesterday...
Tito’s, the brand known for reasonably priced but pretty solid vodka, announced that it plans to make its own hand sanitizer. Tito’s said it would initially roll out 24 tons of hand sanitizer and give away the bottles for free. Anheuser-Busch is also making hand sanitizer, along with a number of other beverage brands large and small...
The promo industry is facing major adversity. But apparel manufacturers have taken this opportunity not only to pivot for the sake of their business, but to do some real good. Last week, we we reported that Los Angeles Apparel offered its workforce to create face masks. It’s now joined by companies like Hanes, SnugZ USA, Starline and more...
Iowa Sen. Jodi Ernst’s SWAG Act gained momentum in the Senate thanks to support from big-name legislators like Rand Paul and Rick Scott. What we’ve learned since our story last week is that the bill’s new, revised version was done with input from PPAI, and is at a point where the association is happy with it if it becomes signed into law...
Gildan Activewear, Montreal, announced today that it is suspending production at all of its manufacturing facilities until mid-April. The company cited a decrease in demand due to event cancellations, government measures and slowing retail demand via social distancing as a result of COVID-19. The company's distribution centers will remain open...
Last night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe ordered the immediate shutdown of non-essential businesses in their respective states, impacting promo suppliers. Today, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a similar order, and it’s more than likely that other states will follow suit as things develop...
As the industry enters uncharted territory, promo suppliers have been inspiring in their resilience and commitment to finding solutions to not only keep their own business wheels spinning, but also to support distributor customers...
