Impressions - August/September 2023 - 30

members of which 100 will typically place some
kind of holiday order. " When I pitch a higher-ticket
item with lower ones, for example a
jacket, hat and water bottle, they buy all three.
They go kind of crazy at Christmas, " she says.
Craft Shows
and Festivals
For Snatch and Run Screen
Printing, the holidays are a great
time to build on its CrossFit Gym
market. Photo courtesy of Snatch
and Run Screen Printing
For smaller shops with one or more singlehead
embroidery machines and a heat transfer
press, another great market for capitalizing on
holiday sales is local and regional holiday craft
and gift shows.
Cassie Mace, founder of She's Sew Vain,
Grayson, Kentucky, (shessewvain.com), who
estimates she does about 40 shows a year, says
that at her fall and winter shows she makes a
point of showcasing things that make great
gifts, with decorative Christmas items and apparel,
constituting between 60 percent and 70
percent of her annual sales.
Actively participating in shows since 2014,
For Sky High Markting, the end
of the year is the biggest part of the
year as well. Photo courtesy of
Sky High Marketing
from standard T-shirts and tank tops to higher-ticket items like jackets
and stocking stuffers like water bottles. I often see people willing to pay
double what they would normally spend on a nice Christmas present
for a spouse or friend. "
In terms of timing, Rossi says, " In October, I start building a list of
great things for gyms to offer. I include some smaller-ticket items and
then something higher priced, like a $100 jacket. These are also ideal
for gym owners to give to their coaches for Christmas. This strategy has
always worked well for me. "
Another big seller, Rossi says, is bags, especially backpacks. " These are
a great gift when the giver doesn't know the recipient's size, " she says,
adding that while her company usually embroiders the jackets it sells,
for other apparel she uses DTF transfers.
" DTF is great because I can decorate piecemeal as the orders come
in, " Rossi explains. " If you screen print, you have to make sure you have
enough time to get all the blanks in, and this can be a challenge when
stock levels are low around Christmas...Ideally, you want to get every
gym their merch by the first or second week in December, so they have
time to get it to people for Christmas. "
Rossi estimates the average gym she serves has approximately 200
P.30
ImpressionsMagazine.com Aug./Sept. 2023
she has found identifying the best matches for
her company to be a trial-and-error process,
but more than worth the effort. Although her
events of choice include a mix of single-day
event and those lasting as long as four days
throughout her tri-state region of Ohio, Kentucky
and West Virginia, she has found multiday
shows are the lucrative.
Another important criterion is expected attendance.
Shorter, smaller events might draw
10,000 people, mid-size around 50,000, and
state and national events 100,000 or more. " You
can expect 2 percent to 3 percent of attendees
to make a purchase from you, " she says.
In terms of scheduling, Mace says she begins
displaying Christmas merchandise in September,
which she considers a soft opening. She then
stops doing shows the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Although most of her sales are made at
shows, she will also take orders that she fulfills
at home and then ships out a well.
As for her top sellers, Mace says Christmas-themed, name-drop location
items and decorative tea towels are among her most popular embroidered
offerings. " People like to give these as a gift for family, church
members or gift exchanges because they are under $10, " she says. She
adds that while about 25 percent of her items are Christmas-themed,
three quarters remain non-Christmas due to her customers looking to
purchase item they can year-round.
Other popular items, Mace says, include embroidered throws, scarves
and apparel, with many customers gravitating toward gifts that are geographically
based by state. " If a person has moved away from home, they
might want to buy a West Virginia towel for a friend, or something as
a nice memory or keepsake, " she says.
As for her Christmas-themed items, Mace says, " I do Christmas
ornaments and embroidered framed pictures. I embroider a saying like
'There's a little piece of heaven in my home' or a holiday-inspired design,
like cardinals. I sell them matted and framed, but also with just the mat
for those who want to pick a frame to match their décor. "
Embroidered T-shirts and sweatshirts are part of the mix as well,
with these, in particular, tending to be city/state/tourist-type designs.
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Impressions - August/September 2023

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