Product News: River's End, Elbeco, SanMar and ASI

New products and services were abundant last month, and we are pleased to feature some of the more interesting items below. Read on for the latest from River‘s End, Elbeco, SanMar and ASI.

Spring has been a busy season for River’s End Trading Company, the wholesale distributor of imprintable apparel and accessories. In May, the company announced two enhancements to its product line -- it added Lacoste classic pique polo shirts to its spring sport shirt selection, effectively becoming the industry’s exclusive distributor of the brand, and launched a new product line, Tommy Hilfiger Golf.

The Lacoste name has a worldwide reputation for quality and fashion. Lacoste is synonymous with the legendary crocodile logo, bringing unparalleled brand recognition to its polo shirts - the original classic 100% cotton pique polo for men and a 94% cotton/6% stretch mini-pique polo for women.

These two classic pique polo's are made the same way they were 70 years ago: 8.05 ounces of twisted double strands of fine cotton. River's End will offer a variety of fashion colors as well as the essentials in both styles.

May also saw the addition of 12 new Tommy Hilfiger styles to the company’s 2006 product offering. This new line of products features eight men's styles and three women's styles including sport shirts, woven dress shirts, and Tommy's signature red, white and blue umbrella.

Tommy Hilfiger Golf is committed to providing customers with the most innovative integration of both function and design with performance properties like Techno Dry, Ultra Fresh and "Buzz Off" insect shield.

The Tommy Hilfiger brand offers customers a fresh American style and projects people having fun and enjoying life. This fashionable line of apparel features styles like the Men's Fairway Polo, Women's Chloe Polo and Men's Cannon Solid classic woven. Tommy Hilfiger Golf offers crisp, vibrant colors including wallace green, campus red, beach blue and camp orange.

River's End Trading Company has distribution centers in Minneapolis , Minnesota and Reno , Nevada .

For more information about Tommy Hilfiger Golf, Lacoste and other River's End products or a 2006 catalog, call 1-800-488-4800 or visit www.riversendtrading.com.

May was also a good month for Letter Carriers, thanks in part to Elbeco. The Pennsylvania manufacturer last month introduced a line of tagless polo shirts for letter carriers.

Elbeco’s polo shirts are the first tagless letter carrier polo shirts available to the US Postal Service. Designed with comfort in mind, the shirts utilize a UV screen in the collar, rather than a cloth or paper tag, which can scratch at the back of the neck throughout the day.

Elbeco manufacturers the shirts in its union facility in Frackville , Pennsylvania . The shirts feature a light blue 50% / 50% poly/cotton pique knit polo design with the USPS patch on the right chest above the pocket. Other highlights include a three-button front placket, professional uniform collar and extra long tails, designed to stay tucked in.

Headquartered in Reading, PA, Elbeco manufactures a selection of standard and custom public service uniforms, including top-quality corporate dress and knit shirts, best-in-class uniform shirts and trousers, and rugged waterproof-breathable police outerwear. With four domestic union-represented manufacturing facilities located in Reading and Frackville , PA , Galion , OH and Warsaw , MO , Elbeco employs over 450 workers, proud to remain Made in the USA .

Visit www.elbeco.com for more information on the company’s products and services.

While not exactly a product, it is a first of its kind for SanMar, a wholesale supplier of apparel and accessories. On June 1 st, the Seattle-based company debuted its first catalog that focuses completely on uniforms. The new 36-page catalog features 12 never-before-seen styles, including pants, outerwear and safety wear from CornerStone™, SanMar’s workwear collection which premiered last year.

Designed to cater to a variety of uniform needs, the Uniform Collection 2006/2007 Catalog features apparel and accessories for restaurant wear, corporate wear, hospitality, retail uniforming, construction, manufacturing and more. Along with CornerStone™, the catalog showcases apparel from Port & Company® and Port Authority®, which debuts pleated khaki pants.

The easy to use Uniform Collection 2006/2007 Catalog features a quick-read guide that lists which industries each product is best for, so readers can go straight to apparel and accessories that are appropriate to their needs

To order the Uniform Collection 2006/2007 Catalog, call SanMar’s customer care center at 800-426-6399 or visit www.sanmar.com.

Ever wonder what a promotional product will look like before you purchase it? You need wonder no more, thanks to the Advertising Specialty Institute. ASI the largest media organization serving the promotional products industry, announced it will be providing virtual sampling services for the 23,000 users of ESP Online and will also make it available for buyers on nearly 7,000 LogoMall Websites.

Virtual sampling technology allows clients to see their logo on a picture of a promotional product. It helps distributors and suppliers increase sales and speeds up the approval cycle for clients. Distributors can use virtual sampling as a distinct competitive advantage and can create a more professional image by sending virtual samples in a presentation or in an email to a client.

All ESP Online users will have access to Technologo EOD (Enabled on Demand), allowing them to build a virtual sample of any product with an image in the products database. Users can make the sample in either the product detail section or by using the CenterStage Presentation Builder.

Distributors will be able to integrate the Enabled on Demand service into their LogoMall Websites, allowing buyers of promotional products to use virtual sampling to envision their logos on products they are purchasing. This technology will provide buyers with a more dynamic, interactive and professional shopping experience on LogoMall Websites.

ASI members already using virtual sampling tools are sharing their positive experiences.

As a supplier, we’re giving our distributors the tools to make their sales jobs easier, said Theresa Land, sales manager for Pacific Handy Cutter, Inc. They build a virtual sample in minutes, and set up personalized presentation materials for their clients. We’re being rewarded with their orders.“

Virtual sampling will be available free in late summer 2006 for primary users of ESP Online. A special Supplier Images Bundle, including All Catalogs Electronically (ACE), will be provided to franchisees and secondary users for $99. Distributors can integrate virtual sampling into LogoMall Websites now for $9.99 per month.

To view a demo providing an overview of virtual sampling technology, visit www.asicentral.com/virtualsamples . To subscribe to virtual sampling services for LogoMall, visit www.technologo.com/asi, or email subscribe@technologo.com. For more information about virtual sampling in ESP Online, visit www.asicentral.com/technologo

Want to spread the news about YOUR new product or service? Send the details to news@uniformmarket.com and your company could be featured next month!  

Editor’s note: Would you like to see your new products featured in a future installment of Product Round-up? Send an email to Jackie@uniformmarket.com