Timothy James Richardson, my uncle, passed away on Sept. 9, 2016 following a long, 15-month battle with cancer. He was 63 years old. My grandparents raised me, and when I was 16, my uncle came to live with us. Until then, I knew him as Uncle Timmy the doctor—kind of stiff, kind of stern. Over…
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The Democratic National Convention was held here in Philadelphia last month, about 4.5 miles south of Promo Marketing offices. If you were in the city, you could see the convention’s influence everywhere, from the demonstrators to the crowded streets, the rallies to the blocked roadways, the … actually, protests and traffic were all you could…
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Last month I had the privilege of joining a select group of promotional products professionals in Washington, D.C., for Promotional Product Association International’s (PPAI) Legislative Education and Action Day (L.E.A.D.). Influential industry members from across the country volunteered their time to head to our nation’s capitol, to raise awareness about our industry and the legislation…
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As we were preparing our Top Distributors issue, news broke of four major industry shakeups. In the span of two weeks, Ennis announced plans to sell off Alstyle Apparel to an undisclosed buyer (later revealed to be Gildan Activewear), Hanesbrands Inc. acquired Champion Europe and Pacific Brands Limited, Taylor Corp. bought Staples Print Solutions, and private equity…
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Growing up, there were two types of kids in my school. First, you had the active kids—the students on the school teams, sure, but also boys and girls in the scouts, skateboarders and bikers, the kids who climbed trees, and the kids who just ran in circles until their mothers called them to come home…
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American Apparel is arguably the most well-known promotional products company in the world. Strip away the stores, the ads, the headlines: At its core, it is a wholesaler that built its business manufacturing and selling T-shirts to decorators. That’s American Apparel. Of course, American Apparel also is an internationally known retail brand. It’s impossible to…
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My mother sang in a Philadelphia glam/punk band called Separate Checks in the late ’70s and early ’80s. At night, she would go on stage dressed as Ziggy Stardust and belt out covers of “Lady Stardust” and “Suffragette City” in bars across the city. I was too young to attend, but on weekends I listened to…
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January is the embodiment of the new. People celebrate the new year, discuss their New Year’s resolutions, outline their plans and, in general, treat the month like it’s a fresh start on life. January is treated as a new beginning every year because it’s the beginning of our calendar year and … that’s it. There…
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Pop quiz: You call up your mother and ask her what she wants for the holidays. She says, “nothing.” Do you: A) Buy her something anyway. B) Seriously, go buy a present for your mom. When people tell you that they don’t want anything for the holidays, they are lying. Everyone wants something for the…
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Paul Bellantone and I walked to dinner after the first day of PPAI’s 2015 Product Responsibility Summit and talked about the same thing we always do: the best concerts we’ve seen recently. (Foo Fighters and the Smashing Pumpkins, for the record.) We also talked about the summit and the state of promotional product safety. Standing…
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