Jim Sweeney Talks Growing Apparel Sales in Houston

August 23, 2023 // Franchising.com // HOUSTON, Texas – Jim and Jane Sweeney are the owners of the Minuteman Press franchise in Houston, Texas for the last 29 years; they first joined Minuteman Press in June of 1994. Jim and Jane Sweeney have built their business in a very successful way over the years. They have excelled at growing their apparel sales in recent years.

Jim summarizes: “The past 2 years have certainly been interesting. We are currently 30.5% ahead (as at July 2023) of 2022, up 35% from 2021. It seems like the world (or our world anyway) came out of its 2-year long malaise in 2022.”

Jim shares more specific details about his center’s booming apparel business and how he and Jane’s Minuteman Press franchise in Houston have accomplished such strong growth in their apparel sales. Their center is located in Houston, Clear Lake City at 1040 Hercules Ave.

Grow Your Business

On growing the business over the past two years, Jim says, “During the early pandemic we pivoted to personal protection products, which naturally led to custom face masks. Jane was sewing 1000 facemasks while I made custom logo cloth masks for hospitals, medical practices, service providers and schools. We sold 40,000 custom-made masks in that period, which we then either heat pressed or sent to a screen printing vendor. We also donated a lot of masks to schools, non-profits, etc.”

He continues, “Finally, in 2022, our traditional printing was finally starting to climb back to pre-pandemic levels. Trade shows and marketing campaigns became more common, which led to an increase in promotional products. After the initial surge, large format work actually slowed. EDDM printing also became a greater portion of our print revenue. After we registered as EDDM suppliers on the USPS’s website, we certainly saw a large increase in Direct Mail in general. Our business card printing has always been a big part of our print sales, and with the addition the Graphic Whizard cutter, creaser, slitter has made it more profitable. Our marketing efforts consists of: heavy community involvement; direct mail postcards, especially this year with the Deal of the Month art provided by MMP corporate; SEO/SEM on the Minuteman.com website, and social media, specifically as it relates to Direct to Film Transfer sales.”

Building a Booming Clothing Business

Minuteman Press can help you build your brand by creating custom-branded apparel. Jim explains:

• “We really started getting serious about apparel about 8 years ago when we purchased a commercial embroidery machine. Jane then put together an impressive lobby presentation around 5 years ago. This area includes apparel, promotional items, and large format.
• The Epson F570 added dye-sublimation capability, and we then added DTG printing to produce one-offs (we sold the DTG machine). During this period we used screen printed transfers. These were mostly 613 or FM expressions. Turnaround time became an issue. The turnaround time was the issue.
• We purchased a second, and then a third Stahls’ heat press during this time. We decided to start a Direct to Film (DTF), printing business. We purchased our first DTF printer with dual printheads and large format about 2.5 years back after purchasing several desktop converter printers in order to print our own transfer. We have the capacity to produce transfers not only for our own use but also to sell to other printers and screen printers as well as sign shops, Facebook Group/Etsy users. We added additional capacity with a 4 head DTF printer in January of this year (we will most likely be adding a third printer in the third quarter this year).”

Jim continues: “Wholesale Transfer printing is now approximately 20% of our monthly sales; we ship all over the country, with a daily capacity for printing thousands of transfers. Adding embroidery and our in-house t-shirt sales makes apparel approximately 30% of our monthly revenue.”

He adds, “Concurrently with this growth in transfer sales, the embroidery business was taking off. We get regular orders of 10-50 polos and button-down shirts. Our customers included a local hospital and two grocery stores. Each order consisted of 150-200 shirt. We completed a jacket embroidery order of $24,000 in the fall and just delivered a $32,000 order to the same client. Of course, we use a trusted local vendor for larger quantities of jackets.”

“Our apparel business continues to grow weekly with more, and larger, in-house turn-key t-shirt sales really ramping up.” -Jim Sweeney, owner, Minuteman Press, Houston/Clear Lake, Texas

How to grow your clothing business

Jim shares three tips for growing an apparel business.

“1. The lobby display, along with wholesale transfers, continues to be the primary driver of our apparel sales. We put up this display of clothing samples, promotional products, and some large format samples several years ago in our shop. The display always attracts new customers, and even existing ones, whenever they come into the store. Around one in five people who come into the shop inquire about something on this display. About 85% of these inquiries are converted into sales.

2. The fact that our CSR has a wealth of knowledge about clothing, and about our entire product line is also a plus. Allison, who is our daughter and CSR/production manger, worked as the store manager of the Galveston store (which will be sold in August, 2022) for many years. She has been involved in all aspects of our business. It’s true that not everyone has this kind of luck, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t train your employees and give them the tools to succeed. SanMar’s apparel catalogs include swatch samples and you can create an apparel website with their marketing tools. It goes without saying, too, that your entire staff should wear logo shirts to showcase your abilities.

3. If you are able to, visit a local clothing industry tradeshow, ASI, or the MMP International World Expo.. Start small with your own shirts. Then, visit your existing clients to demonstrate your new abilities. Apparel is the perfect complement to all other services we offer to our customers. Apparel sales spur printing sales, just like printing sales should spur apparel sales.”

Client Example

Jim describes how he helped a local hospital meet its apparel needs. He shares: “One of our regular ordering apparel clients is a local specialty hospital. The hospital also owns or partners with 15 other physical therapist centers in Houston. We began by providing them with printing and large-format products. Then, we contracted with them for new building signage in each of their outlying offices. Finally, we grew to include apparel. We have them set up on 2 Stahl’s Spirit Sale websites. The hospital can purchase clothing for its new employees and employees of the hospital. In addition to standard corporate apparel, each department has their own branded t-shirt.”

Jim continues, “At least once or twice per year, this hospital does a bulk purchase of 430 t-shirts for all the staff members. This could include rain jackets or backpacks as well as t-shirts, jackets and other special items. We’ve provided $200,000 or more in just apparel and high-end promo items to the hospital in the last 3 years. This hospital then referred us to the hospital that I mentioned earlier in the article, who has just taken delivery of their second large jacket embroidery order.”

Clothing Advice for Others

When asked what advice he would give to others businesses about utilizing custom apparel, Jim answers, “Apparel is an easy sell. Wear your logo. Spread the word. Ask for recommendations. Don’t be afraid of it just because you haven’t done it before.”

For more information on Jim and Jane Sweeney’s Minuteman Press franchise in Houston/Clear Lake, visit https://minuteman.com/us/locations/tx/houston27/.

Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press franchise opportunities and read Minuteman Press franchise reviews at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com.

SOURCE Minuteman press International

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Media Contact:

Chris Biscuiti
Minuteman Press International
631-249-1370
[email protected]

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