Tasked to help plan kit shop material for reunion; need some help

[FormerHorseGuard]

I have never done this before so I am in need of help and advice and maybe some pointers in the right direction.
One of the former Regiments I belonged to is planning a 150th party in a few years and I need some direction where to look for kit shop like items.
I am looking for t shirt, golf shirts, sweater, hats  etc, coins other items that  might be suggested.
Does anyone here have any inside sources or information that  would make my  job easier, looking for companies that  have done work with kit shop supplies and wanting decent lasting items, do not want junk, I have to wear this too, not just sell it.
I would be grateful for any  input, send it to me off line at gghg1 at  hotmail.com
I have a couple years to put this all together with prices and so on.
thanks
stuart
PS no it is not the Horse Guards

- mod edit to clean up title a bit -

 

[Pusser]

There are a multitude of places where you can get T-shirts, golf shirts, ball caps, etc.  Try googling "marketing t-shirts," etc.

For the shiny stuff (cuff links, pins, etc) you also go to a marketing company, but for the really high end stuff you can go to places in the Ottawa area like Joe Drouin Enterprises (http://www.joedrouin.com/cat.php?l=en&nbCatID=1), Dracks Inc http://www.dracks.com/daboutdracks.asp) or Guthrie Woods (http://guthriewoods.com)

 

[Michael OLeary]

I would suggest spending some time seriously considering exactly who the audience for this kit shop is going to be. Serving soldiers in the unit and 60+ year old Association members will have very different tastes for purchases. Once you have determined the most likely audience, and age distribution if necessary, you may even want to consider a small survey to determine what will interest people. Ask specifically if they might or might not buy identified items (at likely price ranges), rather than asking open-ended questions. A survey distributed to representatives of each group you identify will help to mitigate the potential effects of the "good idea fairies" who promise that everyone will want "Item A", but leave you hanging when reality doesn't match their enthusiasm. Lastly, be very careful when items emblazoned specifically for the reunion event are suggested, they can be very hard to unload if you have a surplus. You may even want to identify a small range of special items that will be available on a pre-order, pre-pay basis only.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

my  biggest problem is I do not even know where to go to do the research for costs and such in the clothing world.
Right now I am doing the research on what  I can find without doing a whole of moulds and castings.
Clothing is not something I know much about as to how to have it custom made and the costs.

I am going to talk to a friend who is a goldsmith to look into custom regimental rings, I figure that  will be the high end items,  earrings, rings, and cuff links.
We have a coin committee already and design work being done now.

I know not everyone would be interested in T shirts,  so I am trying for a more dressy  look,  with polo or golf shirts.  Sweaters would be nice but think they  would be of more interest to the jr ranks, so  hoodies and items like that.
Biggest problem is including the various cap badges this Regiment used over the last 50 years alone so I am going to use the main cap badge and the new one.

Just curious what  would you want as item to mark such and event?
Anyone want to give me ideas or suggestions I am open to everything. I have one year to come up with a plan and concepts

Thanks in advance
stuart

 

[Michael OLeary]

Perhaps you should consider a visit to a few of the kit shops in Petawawa to ask about recommended suppliers from the Kit Shop NCOs. This could offer some leads on types and quality of products, return times for orders and ease of dealing with different firms. It would also let you handle the example products so you would know exactly what they can provide. Kit Shop NCOs tend to be a unappreciated breed of men and most would probably enjoy an opportunity to share their collected knowledge and experience with an interested visitor.

 

[Bluebulldog]

I've used both of these with great success. Both for corporate apparel, and other logo items ( like course shirts).

www.4imprint.ca

www.blissco.ca

 

[riggermade]

Sent you a pm

 

[Journeyman]

Sent you a pm

 

I have a similar task, so either keep it in the open forum......or please send me a PM too  :-[

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

I did not want anyone to think I was just running a info commcerical  here, I will share all information I get  if you want .
Thanks for the leads so far

 

[Journeyman]

No worries Fmr-GGHG. I'm just trying to gather info too, and am more than happy to jump onto your bandwagon  ;D

 

[dapaterson]

You may want to look at sites such as www.cafepress.ca; you can upload images and have them printed on a wide variety of material.  Better yet, you can operate a store without carrying inventory.

You are limited in some ways, but it provides an option that can be sustained beyond the initial reunion, and doesn't require the sponsor to risk much (or any) money.

 

[Michael OLeary]

The POD approach may be problematic. Granted, this guy was outside the system and using redrawn badges to make money, but the POD publishers will now be nervous.

http://militaryinsignia.blogspot.com/2011/06/canadian-department-of-national-defence.html

[Edited on September 26, 2011] [At the time of this writing the Canadian Department of National Defense have fully succeeded at their war on unauthorized use of Canadian military insignia. As a result, all my Canadian designs have been removed from each and every POD , just as I predicted would eventually happen. Regretfully, this blog became the only place where my Canadian military insignia can be seen and enjoyed.

Some of the below insignia used to be available on a limited number of selected high quality products via my “Military Insignia” galleries on CafePress and SpreadShirt. Those of you, who were able to catch any of my products while they were still available, should rejoice. Now you own extremely rare limited editions of my Canadian military insignia designs. To those of you who did not - I apologize. Please, thank DND of Canada on my behalf, and check my military insignia designs of all the other countries in my Zazzle, CafePress and SpreadShirt galleries]. Below is the original post.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

been researching having rings made for the regiment. Here is what  I found out.  To have a mould made and produced in steel, so it lasts longer and can be used many  times over and over.  Between 600 and 700 dollars,  to have the mould injected and have the ring casted, it is roughly  $10  per ring, plus the cost of the material  being silver or gold each ring would require about 12 grams of material . Total cost would depend on the number of rings ordered in advance and how much profit the kit shop thinks they  could make per ring.  I am guessing each ring would be in excess of $225.00  if done in silver.  That  might be of interest to others who are doing the same as I