Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 26, 1993 TAG: 9309220338
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Compete in the imprinted knitwear business.
Collegiate Pacific, which operates from a building on Rockland Avenue in Northwest Roanoke, was one of five original screenprinting companies that saw college bookstores as markets. The company claims it's the only one still making real felt pennants, which get their velvet-like finish when a worker hand-sprinkles the material with flocking.
Now with cross-licensing, Collegiate Pacific is prepared to leap into the mass retail market. The company has a license to use Warner Brothers "Looney Tunes" characters on college logo wear, which has Bugs Bunny cuddling up to a Duke University basketball net.
The potential is tremendous, said Bill Webster, marketing and sales manager. An average order for custom work might be 144 to 288 shirts, Webster said. The potential of orders from retailers like Goody's or Leggett-Belk, who are to see the company's new designs next week, makes his eyes sparkle.
"This building is capable of producing $10 million to $12 million of business a year," Webster said.
Under the licensing plan, cartoon characters will be shown in action scenes designed so that the play that begins on the shirt front is completed in a panel on the shirt's back.
In addition to the cartoon-character wear, the company has launched an "illustrated mascot" line, examples of which hang on a display wall in Webster's office.
These feature airbrushed artwork, which was done with the help of a new sister company, Funwear Inc. in Dayton, Ohio. Funwear has a license to use Harley-Davidson and NASCAR themes on clothing.
Webster said that depending upon the volume of orders, both the Roanoke and Dayton locations will be used to imprint all the new designs, which include a series of nature and animal scenes for the "Wild and Free" T-shirt line.
Until this year, Collegiate Pacific was mainly a custom printing shop, Webster said. But competition has mushroomed in that business so much that the mass retail market has greater opportunity, he said.
Webster said that since he joined Collegiate Pacific 3 1/2 years ago, the number of suppliers vying for the college bookstore business has gone from fewer than 10 companies to about 250.
"People are imprinting shirts in their garages," he said.
As part of its new focus, Webster said, Collegiate Pacific has streamlined the number of knitwear styles it offers from 50 to five or six.
New equipment is sitting in the plant waiting to be installed to increase the shop's capacity. Collegiate Pacific employs about 50 people. Webster said the college bookstore business tends to be seasonal, and this is a slow time after orders for the beginning of school have been shipped.
He said, too, that the emphasis on large-order business will not keep the company from continuing its custom screen work.
Collegiate Pacific has designed a Roanoke Express Hockey label, which will go on knitwear for the team and on items for sale to fans.
by CNB