Imprintable sportswear distributor Broder Bros. is going green. The company, which the past two years has increased its eco-friendly assortment from four styles to more than 20, will launch an eco-friendly catalog in November.
The new catalog is the result of increased demand for and availability of eco-friendly products. “We’ve also launched over 50 new eco styles for 2009, so an eco catalog is a great way to showcase all that we carry,” says Kirwei Lo, marketing communications specialist for Broder Bros.
The cataloger also wants to educate customers on corporate responsibility, from eco products to been good corporate citizens, Lo says. “With the growing demand among end-users for eco-friendly apparel, we wanted to provide our customers (screenprinters, embroiderers, promotional product distributors) a good marketing tool to help them grow their sales in that market.”
Lo says Broder Bros.’ 2009 collection will offer organic and recycled styles in a variety of categories and price ranges – from accessories to basic and fashion T-shirts, to sport shirts, to basic and fashion fleece and outerwear.
Broder Bros. formed in 1999 when private equity firm Bain Capital purchased Detroit-based Broder. In September 2003, Broder Bros. acquired major competitors NES Clothing Co. and Alpha Shirt Holdings, along with smaller companies such as Full Line Distributors and T-Shirts & More.
The company actually plans to produce two versions of the eco-friendly catalog: Alpha’s catalog will be 40 pages and the Broder Bros. book will be 32 pages. “We’ve already started promoting this catalog and taking pre-orders,” Lo adds. “The response has been great.”