» Americans have discovered the fragility of life, that ominous fragility that the rest of the world either already experienced or is experiencing now with terrible intensity. « JOSÉ SARAMAGO
Our lives as Americans are changing. I remember vividly, as a child, visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum. I was enthralled with the “charmed” lives of the people in his artwork, the simplicity, the joy. His work captured the innocence and mores of post-WWII America.
But even as a child, I knew these pieces of work did not depict my America. Twenty-five years later, I can say with great certainty, there will be
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I’m confused. While I do realize that, for me, being slightly discombobulated simply means all cylinders are firing per usual, I have reason to believe today’s mental state is in response to an actual set of circumstances, which I will explain in a second.
My job is to write about apparel, we know this. And over the course of the past year covering style for PM, a few truths have unceremoniously revealed themselves to me:
1) Our industry can’t (and quite possibly, won’t) catch up to retail.
2) Moisture-wicking shirts are the next big thing.
3) When presented with cookies from Fresh Beginnings, I
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As people have probably seen from both this week’s and last’s newsletter, there is no end to the compassion shown by the suppliers and distributors of this industry. With the two tragedies, the earthquake in China and the continuing flooding in the Midwest, came news of devastation that needs no elaboration. What also came was a true outpouring of support. Journalbooks, Norwood, PPAI amd Hub Pen are just a few of the companies and organizations providing support and relief efforts. I hope everyone will consider donating to help make their efforts a success. Below are links to articles from last week’s newsletter.
Journalbooks Aims
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In a joint statement today, Robert Schwarz, CAS, president of the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY), based in Montvale, N.J., and Stanley Breckenridge, MAS, chair of the Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) announced the two companies have mutually agreed to terminate their collaborative management agreement for the annual June SAAGNY Promotions East trade show in Atlantic City, N.J. Schwarz said, “Our boards entered into an agreement in 2005 for PPAI to provide a major part of the management services required to produce Promotions East. Our goal has been met and PPAI provided a high level of service for our
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Vertical Source, based in Shrewsbury, N.J., an established member of the decorated apparel marketplace announced it will begin to offer it’s distributor customers the WICKid brand of performance clothing. The WICKid brands goal is to offer quality performance where that is suitable for both work and play. For more information on Vertical Source, visit www.verticalsource.com
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The TRG Group announced the Trek Pack Plus by Victorinox was recently featured in the “Luggage Picks” section of Outside magazine’s Spring/Summer Buyer’s Guide. Reviewers road-tested the 22” Trek Pack Plus from the E-Motion 360˚ 4.0 Collection on an adventure in Belize. The Buyer’s Guide commended the adventure gear for its advanced technology and ergonomic design found in features such as the fully-rotating, 360° response swivel handle, which pivots into a natural “palm-facing-the-body” position. The Buyer’s Guide also lauded the detachable day bag for the extra security provided by its Loop Lock Cable System, allowing the carrier to unify and lock the zippers or
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Trevose, Pennsylvania-based BroderBros. Co. announced it is working with sportswear leader adidas to bring customers high-quality apparel in the latest colors, styles and fabric technology. Since taking on the adidas products in 2005, BroderBros. Co. has seen the brand grow more than 60 percent in the imprintables market, reflecting a parallel growth trend in the retail market. “By providing corporate apparel suppliers with products that experience high demand in retail settings, [Broder’s] Alpha [division] is helping its [distributors] remain competitive, offering options and price-points for virtually every budget,” said Girisha Chandraraj, vice president, marketing at Broder. Adidas has been a top brand on
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York, Pennsylvania-based Marc Laucks and Company, which specializes in advising distributors and suppliers in printing management, made a philanthropic gesture to a struggling chocolate producer in Grenada. At the end of this month, Marc Laucks, CDC will head to the Fancy Food Show in New York City to meet the owners of the Grenada Chocolate Company where they will be distributing brochures that Laucks donated—a donation made after Laucks discovered some very interesting and noteworthy aspects of the company. The Grenada Chocolate Company is the only chocolate producer in the world that completes the entire chocolate production cycle all in one site, from growing
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The Hub Pen Company of Braintree, Massachusetts announced it has responded to the tragic situation in the Sichuan Province of China by raising $10,700 for the earthquake relief effort. Hub Pen Employees were moved by the news of the massive earthquake and the devastating loss of lives and banded together to raise funds to help the victims of the national disaster in China. Many of Hub’s workers have family, friends or acquaintances whose lives were terribly affected by this natural disaster. Hub Pen depends upon China for much of its raw product and they have business partners throughout China. Along with the donation,
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Shelley Sake, director of sales and marketing for Garden Grove, California-based Evans Manufacturing announced the appointment of Lori Bolton as West Coast senior key account manager. “Lori is an accomplished salesperson with more than eight years promotional product industry experience on both the distributor and supplier side,” said Sake. “With her dynamic personality, she will do a fabulous job representing our line and will share her extensive knowledge with our distributor base,” Sake continued. Bolton will represent Evans in 11 states including Ala., Ariz., Northern Calif., Hawaii, Ida., Mont., Nev., Ore., Wash. and Wyo. and promote awareness of the Evans product line, which
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