As 2010 comes to an end, we here at Excel Sportswear can look back and think…

“Wow we really came a long way this year!”

First of all we launched our new website. This site is now more user friendly with easier access to constantly updated galleries and blog posts. You’ll also find that getting started with your order on-line is easier than ever by using our “Getting Started Form” on our homepage. Our new “Product Tour” commercial is also posted on the home page; this video will give you an inside look at the hard work and care that goes into each order and every shirt. In addition to our new site we also created a sister site, which contains all of our custom designs for gun and knife dealers, manufacturers and also law enforcement agencies across the country. So far, we’ve had a great response from both sites.

The sales force got a nice boost with a couple of new inside sales people who’ve made some real progress. We expanded our territory coverage by adding new outside salesman in both Philadelphia and Boston. We attended a few conventions, The FFA convention in Indianapolis and the American Towman convention in Baltimore to name a few. Our presence at these events gives a chance to put faces to the names of people we talk with everyday and also a chance to meet new people.

Throughout the year there have been a few changes in production, for example; we purchased a new 8 color automatic press, which is boosting productivity and offering quicker turn around for our customers. In addition to the new auto, we’ve added a “heat transfer” press to the mix. With all these additions, production rate has nearly doubled!

Overall, the changes we’ve made were definitely for the better!

In the year 2011…                                   

Will we expand our sales department even more?

…add more high tech, cutting edge equipment?

One thing we do know is that we will continue to offer great service and meet the demands of our customers to ensure a quality product they will be proud to purchase and  wear!

…As for the other stuff???

TO BE CONTINUED……

This weekend, we will be attending the 2010 American Towman Exposition.

Held annually at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD; the American Towman Exposition highlights the latest products, technology and trends in the Towing industry.

Excel Representatives Steve McCarroll and Fred Luckert will be on hand at Booth #918 to show off some of our latest Towing designs, answer questions and help you get started on your next Towing T-shirt. We’re giving away 3 FREE sweatshirts to everyone who places an order at the show so be sure to ask about the Show Special.

If you can’t make it to the show but are still interested in one of our amazing Towing designs, give Steve a call at 1-800-784-8857.

Location of the Expo is:

Baltimore Convention Center
One West Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Show hours are as follows:
Saturday, November 20th: 11am – 6pm
Sunday, November 21st: 11am – 5pm

We’re also very proud to have once again created some of the Offical American Towman Exposition T-Shirts.

Today is the day to remember that Freedom isn’t free.

Today chances are high some of our young people will die for our Freedom.

Tens of thousands are standing in harms way to let the world know taking our Freedom won’t be easy. They are uncomfortable, they are away from home, they are frightened but they are there.

Many people “disagree” with our wars. They go to work, raise their families and enjoy their lives while our kids are in hell holes around the world with their fingers on the trigger hoping today isn’t their last day.

This is a day to honor those who served, but more importantly this is a day to appreciate the Freedom we have and the kids today that are paying the price for it.

I wish to thank them all for guarding my Freedom.

Patrick Tzanis
CEO – Excel Sportswear

Whenever a customer recieves their order, we often get asked the question “How did you do that?”

Sometimes we dont even know ourselves how we pulled a certain job off, but we did and the customer loved it.

So, thinking about that, we’ve given that question some serious thought and came to the conclusion that “Everyone likes video … why not create one that will show the world what happens after their order is placed.”

With that being said, we would like to present you with the 2010 Excel Sportswear Product Tour. This video takes you from the time the order is placed, through the approval process, into the art department and finally through production and onto the loading dock.

Be sure to leave us some comments, we’d love to know what everyone thinks.

A big thanks goes out to Donnie McDonnell for the time and effort he put into creating this video.

We are very pleased to announce that Switching Gears, an art exhibit featuring the artists of Excel Sportswear was a smashing success.

The exhibit was held at 28 West Second Gallery and Studio Space in the heart of Greensburg, PA. Beginning at 7pm. Any anxiousness as to whether our opening night would be a success was quickly put to rest when the doors opened and people began pouring in. At one point, it was quite literally elbow to elbow inside of the gallery space with friends, family, and art fans flocking to look at the various pieces on display by the Excel Sportswear artists.

As the evening progressed, it became obvious that this night was worth the hard work and effort that the artists put into it.

Several of the artists sold pieces of their work and the overall success of the evening has already prompted discussion about future shows, possibly in the city of Pittsburgh.

It was a great environment for those who had never been to an art opening. Everyone was quite friendly and having all the participating artists there meant that a lot of questions got both asked and answered.

Artist who were in attendance included:

Chris Grimm
David D’incau
Brent George
Nelson Michael
Mike Hegedus
Dan McManus
Steve Appleby
Rob Crawford
Trina Haynes
Stephen Haynes

We also want to thank Michael & Michelle from 28 West Second Gallery & Studio Space for their insight and all of their help along the way.

It was great to hear co-workers say things like  “I had no idea they did stuff like this outside of work”!

We are currently planning for a show in the Spring, exact date and location will be made available as those pieces fall into place.

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it out.

For the past 4 years Excel has been attending the Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. This was the 83^rd year of the Convention and my 1^st attending. I was pretty nervous about the whole situation being that I was never in an environment such as this and didn’t know what to expect, other than there will be a ton of people that I will talk to. I’m not a part of our sales force and am in my infancy when it comes to marketing so this was a huge experience for me. Luckily enough for me, I went with Patty and Bruce who are 2 experienced members of our sales department and really taught me a ton of new things about sales and presentation.

We had a great booth location near the Roy Rogers exhibit which had the original horse, Trigger, and German Shepard, Bullet, on display for the kids to get pictures with. Kraft Foods was across from us, and YES, they brought the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile and the Mac & Cheese Dinosaur with them! A few other exhibitors close by were RFD TV, Toyota, Carhartt and Organic Valley foods with FREE STRING CHEESE!

My experience with the FFA Chapter Members and Advisors was more than pleasurable! These kids in the FFA are the most well behaved kids that you’ll ever meet. It was so refreshing to see that there are still kids like this in such a crazy world. They were so polite and well mannered and a joy to talk to. The Advisors were very helpful and nice as well. The FFA program is something that I would have my child join because of the values it teaches these kids. Not one of them had an attitude or any kind of disrespect, they all said “Yes Sir”, “No Sir” and “Thank You”!

Unfortunately a lot of inside sales people never get the chance to see the reaction of the customers who are purchasing their products. In those few days I spent at the convention, this is what stuck out to me the most. I realized that when upper Management says “We have the best custom shirts around” that they are right. I can’t tell you how many people came to our booth just to tell us how happy they were with their apparel and what a great job we do. It was so nice to see and hear. Even people that never heard of us had nothing but good things to say when they saw our art. The best, was when you would see the kid’s mouths drop because they thought our designs were so cool and wanted to buy our display shirts on the spot. Or better yet when some of the kids noticed that we were displaying their Chapter’s t-shirt, it was like they were FAMOUS!

I would also like to point out how beautiful and clean the City of Indianapolis is. The people were very nice and welcoming as well. All in all I had a wonderful time and plan on coming back again someday!

Now lets talk about what everyone wants to know…

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Congrats to Mandan High School of North Dakota for winning our 48 Shirt Give-A-Way for your Chapter! Advisor Dave Axt was contacted with the news yesterday and your shirts are on the way!

Halloween is only days away and in many parts of the country, for many people, this means getting dressed up in costumes, taking the kids trick-or-treating and going to parties.

Whatever you do this Halloween, Excel Sportswear wants you to be safe. Below are a few things you can do to insure your Halloween is not only a happy one, but a safe one as well.

• Do not trick-or-treat alone, walk with a group of friends or with a trusted adult.
• Make sure costumes are light colored or use reflective tape on costumes and bags to help drivers see you.
• Have an adult inspect all treats for choking hazards and tampering before eating them.
• Carry a flashlight while trick-or-treating to help you see and to help others see you.
• Look both ways before crossing the street. Use established crosswalks wherever possible.
• Wear well-fitting masks, costumes, and shoes to avoid blocked vision, trips, and falls.
• Enter homes only if you’re with a trusted adult. Otherwise, stay outside.

The Center For Disease Control has a site dedicated to Halloween Safety that contains children’s activities, snack suggestions and tips for making your Halloween a happy, safe and healthy one. You can read all about it HERE!

Other Halloween Resources:

Food & Drug Administration Halloween Food Safety Tips

American Pediatrics Association Halloween Safety Tips

If you live anywhere with 4 seasons then you know what’s coming…..

SNOW!!!

Was there ever a time when you were showing someone a nice SUV and it was cold and nasty so you kind of cut it short?

Blew the sale?

Let’s face it, cars don’t stop selling because there is snow on the ground, your monthly bills don’t stop either. Car Salesman still have to go out into the blustery cold weather and show people Cars, SUV’s and 4WD’s.

So why not be warm and focused while doing it?

Don’t let a sale slip away this year because you were freezing cold and forgot to mention an option or weren’t in the most pleasant of moods. Don’t let one of your employees miss one either.

Excel is here to offer Auto Dealerships across the US warmth this year with our extensive collection of winter apparel! Don’t forget we offer both silk screen and embroidery services and all our designs are hand drawn to fit your needs.

Plus we have a FREE offer!

Click here for details.

 Excel Sportswear is very happy to announce that we will be holding an Art Show on October 22^nd-24^th titled Switching Gears. The event will be at 28 West Second Gallery located at 28 W 2nd Street in Greensburg PA and doors will open at 7pm on the 22^nd.

We are very excited about this event because we have extremely talented artists that work hard here at Excel, drawing awesome designs for all of our customers! Now it is time to show everyone their creativity on a whole different level. Artistic passion runs deep with these guys and not many of our customers get to see where their true passion lies.

You will see many different styles at this show because at the moment we have 10 artists that will be showing their work, all of which is available for purchase if you decide you want take one home with you.

The following artists have confirmed they will be present opening night, October 22^nd, 7pm-11pm:

Chris Grimm                                  
David D’incau
Brent George
Nelson Michael
Mike Hegedus
Dan Mcmanus
Steve Appleby
Rob Crawford
Stephen Haynes
Trina Haynes

We are still waiting for a few people to RSVP so this list could be growing!

There will be refreshments and fun for everyone who comes and who knows, you may leave with a beautiful piece of art for you to enjoy for many years to come!

Are you coming?

As part of celebrating our new tactical tees website, www.exceltacticaltees.com, we have just got our new batch of stickers in. They look AWESOME!

I think you gun fanatics will really like these!

They can go on your gun cabinet at home or maybe even on the case you keep your favorite rifle in while traveling! You will be the coolest person in the woods or at the range!

You want one?

Here’s how!

Send a self addressed stamped envelope to:

Tactical Stickers
c/o Excel Sportswear
15 Forbes Road
Trafford, PA 15085