Oooopps

Ok, we’ve neglected this blog big time – social media gurus will be ticked off.  Fact is, we’ve been busy with other stuff.  Clifton Ave launched in April.  We just had a meeting about a new product, this time it’s not something we’re going to source, we actually designed it and will have it manufactured…but it won’t be out until Fall 2010.  You have to sell a boat load of t-shirts to make any money and there is a lot of competition..from Target to Life is Good to Johnny Cupcakes…we feel confident enough people will like ours but we’re business savvy enough to know that can only be one component of the company.

Anyhow, welcome Spring by Mother Nature, still = the world’s best designer.   Have a good one….we’ll try to update this more frequently….

Sign of spring

Saw this guy off my deck this morning. Spring is finally here.  If you are in Columbus you are probably ready for some sunny days. [I'll get back to what I actually started this blog for] January and February were great for us which was a surprise actually.  We are about to launch a new street, just putting the finishing touches on the tags.  Marketing has been the most time consuming – there are so many messages hitting consumers – luckily word of mouth has been our #1 – and that relies on our awesome fans who get the concept, buy the apparel, wear it..and talk about it.

Here’s to the luck of the Irish, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Buckeyes

Congrats to the basketball team for their win over Illinois.  Great game.

What is the answer?

Been watching the Green Channel special called Blood, Sweat, and Tshirts.  In case you don’t have that channel and don’t want to catch it online, it is a special about 5-6 British hipsters living in the UK who agree to go work in clothing manufacturing in India to see where and how their clothes are made. They work in the whole chain ~ cotton picking to final production.   It’s a cool series as an eye opener and argues that the workers are hardly making a living wage, etc.  So far they haven’t mentioned any solutions other than paying the workers a little more.  On one hand many of these workers are proud to have the jobs as there are few alternatives…on the other hand they mention they can barely pay for rent and food. The show is is entertaining and if nothing else will make you think.  Enjoy if you check it out.    http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/blood-sweat-tshirts/

Another week

We are surviving the blizzard-mania and ended our Valentine’s Day campaign Tuesday  - Wed was the last day we could ship and get orders to customers on time.  Results were pretty good.

To the left are images of some of our hang tags for our retail push.  Online sales are good but retail will help the impulse buyer get their fix.  Margins aren’t as good so retail volume has to make up for it.

I always read about the importance of keeping blogs up-to-date but the past few weeks have been a little too hectic in a good way for personal reasons.  All for now, thanks for checking in on this blog…oh…some people were searching for a Wearlane Apparel discount code so here it is:  poorcollegestudent

Spring..well almost?

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Court St women's fit t-shirt

Monday morning – had to make some time for a quick blog.  Last week we launched the new scarlet on gray Lane Ave t-shirt and Court St t-shirt women’s fit to our Facebook fans.  In the next few weeks we will be pushing to broaden awareness about these t-shirts.  With Valentine’s Day coming up we think these are pretty cool and affordable gifts…add a card and chocolate (and whatever else depending on your budget)…and voila – the perfect gift.  This week we are working on our new identity and hope to unveil it soon.  There is so much to do and so much opportunity to do more that I wish we didn’t have to sleep.

We have had a decent number of requests for adding kid and pet apparel to our line.  If you are one of those who want to see it, hang tight.  We don’t want to dilute our focus too much and will keep focusing on adult apparel until we think the time is right to branch out.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment. Enjoy the week!

Local business

Generally there is a message related to business in this blog,  I try not to bore you with too much personal stuff.  Today I headed down to Short North to meet a friend for lunch.  We ate at Tasi Cafe (tasicafe.com).  I had the Chevre (goat cheese), Roasted Peppers, Arugula, Pine Nuts, Multigrain Panino for $8, it came with chips.  It’s a great place and I highly recommend it if you’ve never been, the cafe is nicely designed and “cozy”.  After lunch I ran in to a friend walking her dog and we were talking about retail shops and the Dr. Mojoe demise and she said I ought to stop by Milk (Bar) on my way to American Apparel.  I go to American Apparel about 1x a month to check out items, colors, etc.  Stopped in at Milk (found out it’s been there 2 years, need to get out more), great place…not a bar but a retail store with men’s & women’s apparel, talked with the owner who seems nice, motivated, and creative.  Another local shop and I wish them well.  Head down there sometime it’s at 5th and High.  The thought for today is support local, buy original….if you want to.  Otherwise feel free to buy chain and even to be plain.  I leave you with this…..

In case you can’t read this….”Never Before Have So Many People With So Little To Say Said So Much To So Few” – from despair.com.

Every decision

In the world of life every decision / choice leads to a development….and those add up to something, or nothing.  There are several factors in business related to success and it’s amazing to me why one business succeeds and another doesn’t.  This topic came up last night when I was discussing the closing of a Columbus-based retail chain with 4-5 stores.  I liked the store, never really bought much there and wondered how they could afford their rents, but nonetheless, they had good products, very nice stores, solid branding and marketing..so what happened?  Just a goof up somewhere?  Not selling enough?  Wrong product mix?  Did they pick a demographic that was affected by the economy?  I can imagine there are several factors, you never know…well at least I don’t have a clue.  Then Les Wexner’s Limited brands came up – I don’t know the whole story but they began with one store and he and his team built an empire.  How did they survive, was it luck, was it smart decisions, good branding….probably lots of good moves and certainly “luck” – however you define it.

As a small business owner I don’t spend time thinking about failure versus success but more importantly (1) do I believe in what we are doing? (2) do people like it and ARE they buying [liking it doesn't keep the lights on], (3) am I doing everything I can every day to move forward.  So far the answer to all three has been an overwhelming YES.  Now it is our team’s job to make sure that continues.

Great snowy Friday, be safe around town wherever you are.  Thanks for reading.  Enjoy your weekend.

Fly-by

The holidays just flew right by…time flies when you’re having fun, right.  Back to “work” tomorrow.  Holiday sales were great and we are ready to keep moving ahead.  Thank you for your orders!  We’ll be pushing for Valentine’s Day soon enough…wow-Target already has that going.   Have a few new developments in the pipeline, stay tuned.  Glad the Buckeye’s brought home a win!  I was sad to see Cincinnati lose.  Happy New Year, best of luck to you in 2010.

Design inspiration

I love hats, probably wore a baseball hat at least 70% of my days in college and have thought that someone should explore new ideas for hats.  Found this image on the web recently. Might seem outlandish for now but who knows, in ten years we may all be wearing hats like this.