One of my running buddies sent me a text the day before a big marathon we both ran yesterday. In the message he asked if we had printed the shirts for the event, knowing of course that we do this type of work. I replied that we did not print the shirts for this high-profile…
A good customer recently sent me a quote request for a large volume program. Due to the size of the program, pressure from the “end user”, and because it was “commodity printing”. I was told that the job was going out for bid and that I needed to be very competitive. Being put in a bid situation is…
Apparently according to the piece “Ad-free social network Ello turns to branded t-shirts for revenue” this could be the next wave of capital generation. The report says that Ello is only making money from t-shirts, not from use of their app. I hope the t-shirts are better than the app. I know I’m one of…
Most retail lines understand the value in premium garments over basics and will thusly charge accordingly (think hoodies over tees, etc). Why is this not so with printing? We all know that it requires more work and costs more to produce a full color print over a single color print and most of us charge accordingly…
Tom and I visited the Hirsch showroom and office in NC. We received some great hospitality and we got to see some of the best equipment available for shirt decoration: Kornit Direct to Garment, MHM Automatic Textile Press, Tajima Embroidery, and Seit Lasers. Ostensibly it was to show some folks that were new to the…
Rick and I are on a tour of North Carolina and South Carolina this week. Today we visited the Rutland Group. We’ve both been loyal Rutland ink customers for years and I must say, this being my first visit, it was really something to finally see where the magic happens. Though our hosts were more than…
In this day and age, it is not really a good excuse to plead ignorance about where your shirts are made. There is usually some information on the label, and then there is this thing called “the internet” where you can do either a little or a lot of research. In the coming weeks we’ll…
One of my first posts on The Ink Kitchen was entitled Hot Market Heartbreak. In that post I talked about the disappointment your team doesn’t win in a hot market situation (especially if you are actually a fan of the team you are slated to print for). Wednesday night, however, was a different story. My…
Ah yes, the SGIA 2014 show. In Part 1 I made the point that boring can be ok. Putting solid machines and solid supplies on display is not such a bad idea. I’m usually skeptical about new wondrous devices and magical supplies that will solve all my problems and make me a millionaire anyway. Put…
SGIA 2014. Did I see anything new? Well not that much but that doesn’t mean at all that it was not worth attending. I saw friends. I talked to new vendors. I had time to talk face-to-face with established vendors. I got to talk shop with other owners. I got to see what is trending and…
