In the past year, the stoppage of school events and team sports — along with a shift to virtual learning — has changed the way many decorators have approached selling apparel to educational institutions. Schools and colleges wanted creative ways to partner and sell merchandise to their students, so decorators had to start thinking outside the box.
“We’ve offered shipping to home as an option for schools,’’ says Kristy Knarr, co-owner of StickerDad & ShirtMama, Wanaque, N.J. “Since students and faculty are learning virtually, this makes it easier to maintain non-contact.”
Keeping business continuity with these clients often means finding new ways of fulfilling their orders in a way that works for both parties. “Before, these schools ordered and paid for a set number of shirts, and we’d print the orders and deliver,” says La Tonna Roberson, sales manager at Roberson Printing and Graphics and
TShirtShopDallas.com. “Now, we let colleges place smaller initial orders and repeat orders on demand.”
Roberson fulfills on-demand orders by printing plastisol transfers, so they’re ready when the schools need them. “That works out great because schools can take orders frequently,” she says. “Having preprinted transfers on hand with the school’s logo allows us the ease of offering that same logo or even multiple logos on a wider selection of products.”
Fulfillment and operational tweaks weren’t the only things that had to change in the past year, though. Online stores have become the prominent way to sell decorated spiritwear. “For a lot of our school clients, online stores were a huge hit pre-COVID 19, but still, many didn’t offer them,” says Howard Potter, CEO of A&P Master Images, Utica, N.Y. “Now, those in this space who didn’t jump on the online-store trend are behind the eight-ball and wish they had started earlier.”
Although many schools have moved to hybrid learning and teams are beginning to play sports again, some of these changes will continue to dominate this niche. We asked a few decorators and other industry experts to weigh in on some of these trends, along with the apparel styles, add-on products and decoration trends that are winning them business with schools this year.
What Teachers & Students Want
Potter says he “pandemic-proofed” his selling process with customers, especially for the education sector. “We made sure we can sell to them without them ever stepping in [their] location,” he says. “You never know who’s still worried about COVID-19 and at what level, so keep that in mind. My advice: Create an online sales approach that includes virtual meetings where you can present options and close the sale.”
As vaccinations help tackle the pandemic and enable in-person learning and events to resume, there are lots of opportunities for you to present robust programs to teachers, students, parents and supporters. Let’s break down a few options:
“T-shirts are still No. 1,” Potter says. “Schools have been buying apparel and hard goods like water bottles and mugs to mail to students and staff to help them feel a part of the community, even if they’re virtual.”
Roberson sees a demand for T-shirts in oversized and slouch styles, along with elevated details. “The trend for colleges is softer tees with a relaxed fit,” she says. “We’ve seen an uptick in students wanting curved hems, tees with side slits and ¾ sleeves with sewn stripes.”
Because it’s hard to predict when at-home learning will completely end, Knarr says, it’s important to continue stocking premium tees, along with hoodies, joggers and other loungewear styles in online stores that you maintain and fulfill for these school clients.
Knarr also says she started getting lots of requests for tie-dye apparel from schools, which speaks to a larger fashion trend in 2021. Tie-dye evokes the carefree fun of music festivals, concerts and other positive-vibe gatherings — so we’re gravitating back toward those happier places, but from home. This year, expect to see tie-dye in lots of iterations: different patterns and color stories, on all types of garments, for all types of wearers. That includes masks, T-shirts, hoodies and bags, so show your clients a variety of tie-dye patterns and colors so they can choose what matches their markets the best.
The wholesale market is bursting with patterns and color stories to appeal to wider audiences, making tie-dye more mainstream, without the “flower-child” association. Right now, traditional tie-dyes are in the “everyone-can-wear-it” category. People love the bright colors and patterns, which express the happiness everyone’s searching for right now. However, the more muted tones can reach a broader audience that may not want to make a colorfully bold statement, but loves the artistic patterns.
Pitching Non-Apparel Products
Don’t forget all the add-on, non-apparel products you can suggest for schools, such as tote or gym bags, water bottles, tablet cases, hand-sanitizer packs and more. Even better, select a small group of proven products that your staff or other education customers use and love so that you can say, “This tablet holder is our top staff or customer favorite.”
A great tactic for increasing your order size as an apparel decorator is bundling orders. “Schools love product bundles and kits, and we sell them in the $5-$20 range,” Potter says. “You can easily ship them right to individual homes or as packs to the school.”
Showing your clients products or bundles in a “good-better-best” presentation can help you increase order size and value. Roberson keeps bundling simple by offering the same logos on different merchandise, with the option to add staff or student names on the backs of garments.
While Potter and Knarr say special graphic tees top the list of items schools want, don’t ignore the other opportunities around apparel. “Pay attention to the news and social media to see what products people like and use,” Potter says. “Listen to people in your target demographic and follow the trail to create gold. What lasts? What will be used the most? Promote those items to your educational clients.”
Extra credit for online stores
Schools are great candidates for year-round online stores because of the seasonality of different events, clubs, spiritwear, fundraising and gift opportunities.
“Online stores are one of the main things we offer for schools and associated organizations,” Knarr says. “It’s a no-brainer for fundraising. They don’t have to handle ordering, collecting money or even giving out the decorated products. Plus, it’s minimal work on their end and easy to pass on to the next chairperson.”
Decorators should make it as painless as possible for a school to say, “yes,” to an online store. Here are some tips for pitching them to schools:
Some schools may be late to the online-store game, but it’s never too late to offer this service to them. If they’re hesitant, propose a temporary fundraising store so they can test the waters with just a few decorated items during a short time period.
While Roberson’s shop doesn’t have the capability of setting up a full online store like bigger shops, she instead creates a page for the school’s promotions — within her website — of sample products with their logo. “The school sets the selling price and shares the link with students,” she says. “We take out our printing cost and send the school a check after the promotion ends. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
James Andres is the content manager for S&S Activewear. For more information or to comment on this article, email James at jandres@ssactivewear.com.
Decoration Trends to Try
1. Focus on their mascot and school colors. Since school spirit is vital now — with lots of teachers and students learning at home and outside their comfort zones — incorporate the school’s branding into your designs. “This is your chance to take what your clients give you and then really push to ‘wow’ them,” Potter says.
For Roberson, printing masks with school logos or mascots has been a big seller.
“Focus on designs with weathered effects, patches and collegiate crests,” says Craig
Mertens, general manager, Digital Art Solutions.
2. Go for the bling. “We offer glitter and spangle, which always goes over well with
educational clients with a younger demographic,” Knarr says. Vinyl transfers are great for these colorful, “notice-me” graphics on T-shirts or hoodies. Plus, if you have the various designs in stock, you easily can customize one or 20 garments easily and ship them out.
3. Go for bleach and bling. “Yes, bleached tees have made a comeback,” Roberson says. “Our smaller schools are requesting bleached and distressed T-shirts. The bleaching trend is really hot now and easy to pair with sublimation printing.” She notes that elementary and high schools love the option of adding some flash in the form of glitter, metallics and rhinestones.
4. Pay attention to fonts. Athletic block and script fonts, comic-book styles and handwritten scripts are in demand in this market. “The education market wants simple, text-only designs or organic designs with handwritten scripts, so your font choice is so critical,” Mertens says. “Now is a good time to invest in a good digital library to get access to lots of fonts and images to cater to this market.”
5. Don’t be afraid to try transfers. When printing for schools or customers who need several product options, consider outsourcing screen-printed transfers instead. Companies like F&M Expressions and Howard’s Transfers offer a great solution to being able to print school logos on demand and on a variety of products, Roberson notes. “That same pocket logo usually fits on a cap,” she says. With the longevity of screen-printed transfers and embroidered patches, our company increased our sales and saved valuable production time.”
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