The Trump Administration’s recent move to tighten regulations on some hand sanitizer ingredients could potentially gum up the supply process at a crucial time, and create a prolonged stocking issue within the promotional products industry and beyond…
Read More‘PPE Hell’: Changing Rules, Supply Chain Nightmares—and a Lifeline for Promo Businesses
Personal protective equipment, or PPE, has been a lifeline for industry companies savvy enough to get in early and adapt quickly. PPE sales have helped promo businesses partially offset the drop in other orders and, in some cases, actually increase revenue despite widespread economic fallout. But selling PPE has been anything but easy…
Read MoreePromos Expands Giving Tuesday Commitment With Chris Riggs Collaboration, Gift Initiative
ePromos, St. Cloud, Minn., again expanded its support for the #GivingTuesday charitable fundraising movement. This year, ePromos introduced a high-profile creative collaboration with renowned artist Chris Riggs, plus a matching gift initiative in support of COVID-19 relief…
Read MoreShop Disney Adds ‘Virtual Waiting Room’ to Handle ‘Star Wars Day’ Merch Demand
With its theme parks shut down, Disney has had to go online-only for merch sales. That can present a challenge in itself, as the demand for limited edition merch could cause servers to freeze up like a dead Tauntaun on Hoth. Thankfully, Disney planned ahead by creating a “virtual waiting room” for shoppers to wait until its their turn to buy “Star Wars Day” merch…
Read MorePivot to Profit
We are all learning some new vocabulary during these times. Phrases like “shelter in place,” “social distancing” and “herd immunity.” Another word I strongly recommend people learn is pivot. “Pivot” simply means to “turn.” Many people reading this need to learn to pivot or turn. To pivot to new types of companies wide open for…
Read MoreWhile Trump Campaign Uses Quarantine for Merch Ideas, Biden Campaign Store Sits Idle
The Trump Campaign has been actively marketing branded merchandise that specifically appeals to people under quarantine and stay-at-home orders, and in March spent more on merch than in any month since September 2016. The Biden for President campaign store, on the other hand, has not been fulfilling orders…
Read MoreHow COVID-19 Is Impacting Music Merchandise Businesses
More than a month-and-a-half since the cancellation of South by Southwest, individuals in the music merchandise space have further seen their livelihoods jeopardized because of canceled or postponed tours. That has forced many to rely upon online merch sales to offset lost sales, though that alone may not be enough…
Read MoreGildan Might Make Its Face Mask Production Permanent
After adding production of face masks and gowns for health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gildan Activewear said that it’s considering making this facet of its business permanent, even after the stay-at-home orders relax and things regain relative normalcy…
Read MoreAIA Corporation Appoints Nancy K. Schmidt as New CEO
AIA Corporation, Appleton, Wis., announced today that it’s board of directors has selected Nancy Schmidt as the company’s new CEO. Schmidt, a two-year veteran of AIA who most recently served as chief financial officer, is the first female CEO in AIA history…
Read More‘Catholics Vs. Corona’ T-shirt Gives Notre Dame Students Charitable Way to Fight COVID-19
In the absence of most athletic activity, we have replaced watching impressive feats with reporting on many sports-related efforts to combat COVID-19. The latest comes courtesy of University of Notre Dame football, as four students created a T-shirt that references a storied 1988 win by the Fighting Irish while generating funds for the United Way…
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