Minuteman Press Franchise Review: Jim Sweeney ‘Talks Shop’ on Growing Sales With Booming Apparel Business in Houston, Texas
HOUSTON
–Information Direct–
Jim and Jane Sweeney are the homeowners of the Minuteman Press franchise in Houston, Texas for the final 29 years; they first joined Minuteman Press in June of 1994. Jim and Jane have completed an incredible job constructing their enterprise through the years. Most lately, they’ve really excelled in rising their attire gross sales.
Jim summarizes:
“The previous 2 years have definitely been fascinating. We’re at the moment (as of July of 2023) operating 30.5% forward of 2022 gross sales, which was up 35% over 2021. It looks as if the world (or our world anyway) got here out of its 2-year lengthy malaise in 2022.”
Within the under interview, Jim shares extra particular particulars about his middle’s booming attire enterprise and the way he and Jane’s Minuteman Press franchise in Houston have achieved such robust development of their attire gross sales. Their middle is positioned at 1040 Hercules Ave (Clear Lake Metropolis); Houston – Clear Lake Metropolis, TX 77058.
How have you ever grown what you are promoting normally over the previous two years?
Jim Sweeney:
“Throughout the early pandemic we pivoted to private safety merchandise, which naturally led to customized face masks. Whereas Jane was busy really stitching 1000 face masks, I used to be offering customized brand material masks to hospitals, medical workplaces, service suppliers, and faculties. We bought about 40,000 customized masks throughout that point, and we both warmth pressed them or despatched them to an area display print vendor. We additionally donated a whole lot of masks to varsities, non-profits, and so forth.
Lastly, in 2022, our conventional printing was lastly beginning to climb again to pre-pandemic ranges. Promotional merchandise additionally grew as commerce reveals and advertising and marketing calls grew to become extra the norm. We additionally had an enormous spurt of enormous format work, however that really slowed down a bit after that preliminary spurt. EDDM printing has additionally develop into a bigger portion of our print gross sales. As soon as we registered as EDDM suppliers on the USPS web site, we positively noticed a really massive enhance in junk mail normally. Enterprise Card printing has at all times been huge for us, and the addition of the Graphic Whizard slitter, cutter, creaser has made it much more worthwhile. Our advertising and marketing efforts consists of: heavy neighborhood involvement; junk mail postcards, particularly this yr with the Deal of the Month artwork supplied by MMP company; web optimization/SEM on the Minuteman.com web site, and social media, particularly because it pertains to Direct to Movie Switch gross sales.”
How have you ever grown your attire enterprise? What have you ever completed to get your attire gross sales going?
Jim Sweeney:
“We actually began getting critical about attire about 8 years in the past after we bought a industrial embroidery machine. Then, about 5 years in the past, Jane put collectively an excellent foyer presentation. This space options attire, massive format, and promotional objects of curiosity.
We added dye sublimation capabilities with the Epson F570, after which we added DTG printing for one- offs (we finally bought the DTG printer). Throughout this time, we had been utilizing a whole lot of display printed transfers, largely from 613 originals or FM expressions. The difficulty grew to become turnaround time. It could take as much as 2 weeks to obtain these transfers, after which after all we needed to press them.
We bought a second, after which a 3rd Stahls’ warmth press throughout this time. That’s after we determined to maneuver in to the Direct to Movie (DTF) printing enterprise. After going by means of a number of desktop transformed printers to attempt to print our personal transfers, about 2.5 years in the past we bought our first massive format, twin printhead DTF printer and finisher. Along with producing transfers for our in-house use, now we have sufficient capability that we promote transfers to different printers, display printers, signal outlets and Fb Group/Etsy homeowners. We added extra capability with a 4 head DTF printer in January of this yr (we’ll almost certainly be including a 3rd printer within the third quarter this yr).”
Jim continues:
“Wholesale Switch printing is now roughly 20% of our month-to-month gross sales; we ship everywhere in the nation, with a every day capability for printing 1000’s of transfers. Including embroidery and our in-house t-shirt gross sales makes attire roughly 30% of our month-to-month income.”
“Concurrently with this development in switch gross sales, the embroidery enterprise was taking off. We frequently obtain orders for 10-50 polos or button-down shirts for embroidery. We landed a grocery retailer chain and a couple of native hospitals, and the orders grew to become 150-200 shirts at a time. This previous fall we accomplished a $24,000 jacket embroidery order, and we simply delivered $32,000 jacket order to that very same consumer, a hospital. After all, we use a trusted native vendor for bigger portions of jackets.”
Jim provides:
“Our attire enterprise continues to develop weekly with extra, and bigger, in-house turn-key t-shirt gross sales actually ramping up.”
What are 3 suggestions for different homeowners on rising their attire enterprise?
Jim Sweeney:
“1. We really feel that the #1 factor that’s persevering with to drive our attire gross sales, along with the wholesale switch gross sales, is our foyer show. A number of years in the past, we put this show of attire samples, promotional objects, and a few of our massive format samples in our store. At any time when a brand new, and even an present buyer comes into the store, invariably they’re drawn to this show. About 1 in 5 individuals who stroll into the store asks about one thing that they see on that show. We flip about 85% of these inquiries into gross sales.
2. It additionally helps that our CSR may be very educated about all elements of attire, as she is about all of our services. Our CSR/manufacturing supervisor, our daughter Allison, was the shop supervisor at our Galveston location (which we bought in August of 2022), and has labored in each facet of our enterprise through the years. I notice that not everybody may be this fortunate, nonetheless, that doesn’t cease you from coaching and offering your workers with the instruments that they should do their jobs effectively. SanMar has nice attire catalogs with swatch samples, and you may put collectively a easy attire web site utilizing their advertising and marketing instruments. After all, it additionally goes with out saying that everybody in your workers needs to be sporting brand shirts, to additional showcase your capabilities.
3. When you’ve got the chance, attend an area attire business commerce present, an ASI present, and most particularly the MMP Worldwide World Expo. Educate your self, request samples, buy a very good warmth press, begin small, with your personal shirts, then go to your present purchasers to indicate them your new capabilities. Attire is an ideal tie in to all the different companies that our outlets present to our purchasers. Attire gross sales spur printing gross sales, similar to printing gross sales ought to spur attire gross sales.”
At the least a few times a yr, this hospital does a bulk buy of 430 t-shirts for all of the workers members. The acquisition may embrace jackets, rain jackets, backpacks, different specialty objects, or t-shirts. We have supplied $200,000 or extra in simply attire and high-end promo objects to the hospital within the final 3 years. This hospital then referred us to the hospital
Are you able to present an instance of a consumer who has used you for attire?
Jim Sweeney:
“One in every of our common ordering attire purchasers is an area specialty hospital. Along with their hospital facility, in addition they personal or accomplice with 15 different bodily remedy facilities within the Houston area. We began out offering them with the standard printing and enormous format merchandise, then contracted with them to offer new constructing signage for every of the outlying workplaces, after which grew into attire with them. We’ve got them arrange on 2 Stahl’s Spirit Sale web sites. One in every of them is for workers to buy branded attire, and the opposite is for the hospital to buy attire for brand new workers. Along with commonplace company attire, every division has their very own branded t-shirt.
Is there anything you’d prefer to share?
Jim Sweeney:
“Attire is a straightforward promote. Put on your brand. Speak it up. Ask for referrals. Do not be afraid of it simply because you have not completed it earlier than.”
For extra data on Jim and Jane Sweeney’s Minuteman Press franchise in Houston/Clear Lake, go to https://minuteman.com/us/areas/tx/houston27/
Be taught extra about #1 rated Minuteman Press franchise alternatives and skim Minuteman Press franchise critiques at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com
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