Brewery Merch Doesn't Match Customer Base

Don't know why,but I've always been a medium. Which is sometimes a problem.

Depending on where I buy clothes.

I asked for a medium t shirt at a Blues/Rock (Eric Gales) show and the poor girl was throwing shirts everywhere to find one. But they did have 1.

 

Size has never been an issue for me, but this turn to clingy 50/50 cotton/polyester shirts over the past number of years is something I dislike. They make all but the fittest of men look like ill-shaped sausages. Moreover, after a few washes, they get rough and develop a pill. I despise them!

 

my diet starts when my brewery XXL shirts start getting tight. Follows a pattern of about 3 times a year- I go two or three weeks without beer, usually does the trick. XL would require more sacrifice than I am willing to make without a doctor's order

 

LOL Nice!

 

I'm 6'4" and generally need XXL for length, or an XLT would fit. I've never had a problem getting XXL shirts from breweries.

 

Yeah - ever try to put on or take off one of those stretchy sausage shirts when you're anything other than completely dry? Then if you're not careful, you can snap yourself in the eye as you pull them off. I close my eyes when I take one of those shirts off.

 

I print t-shirts for a living and I can tell you that my cost for S-XL is the same, 2XL is usually +$0.50-$1.00, 3XL is +$0.50-$1.50, and from there on up it starts getting expensive rather quick (especially if you want/need a Tall). So many breweries are going for Bella+Canvas Triblends, and charging $25-$30 for a t-shirt that costs $10 printed with a 24 piece minimum. I think most of them would be better off charging $15 for the shirt and selling 2-3 beers to someone, instead of $25 and 1-2 beers for the same price. If someone wants to spend $40-$50 at your brewery and your shirt costs them half of what they are wanting to spend, it's going to reduce the amount of beer you sell. Plus, someone wearing your brewery's shirt out in public is very cheap advertising.

I've got several 50/50 Tees (FotL, Jerzees, Gildan) that have gone through the wash a couple dozen times and I've never had this happen to me (I usually end up putting holes in them myself due to ash falling off my cigar and onto my shirt). I know the Bella+Canvas, American Apparel, and other "trendy" brands are usually a lighter fabric weight per yard and are also sometimes cut slimmer.

 

I can only speak for the breweries local to me, but space is limited. My guess is they emphasize the traditional sizes (small, medium, large) to cover a majority of their consumers within a minority of their retail space. If inventory for the larger sizes turns over slower too, now you have additional shirts displayed that may not match the current range of gear.

It's also worth noting that women tend to wear smaller sizes. Dumping smalls/mediums to carry 2XL and 3XLs could alienate your women consumer base.

 

These are shirts that will go directly into my 'throw away' bin for races (a lot of races have switched to giving out these cheap shirts). Basically warm up in them and toss them when it's race time. If I don't have any upcoming races, I may paint/work in one and just trash the shirt afterwards. Life is too short to be wearing uncomfortable shirts.

I fail to understand why someone would build a brand and then put it on a cheap product. You're advertising your focus on quality right there.

 

I actually prefer the modern cut of shirts. I always hated the old boxy style that made me look like I was wearing a tent. Now t-shirts with giant neck holes, that's another story.

 

As long as they have trucker hats. I love those!!

 

I work in promotional products as well - T-Shirts are a huge part of my business. The Venn diagram of my current career and BeerAdvocate threads is rather small. Your cost structure is spot on. I will say on the fit - B+C and AA shirts are for sure moving towards a 'fashion' fit that I've had to warn customers about in terms of size planning.

It's not so much about alienating anyone, its about having inventory leftover which costs money. Sales of shirt sizes in most areas of the country are like a bell curve. Few smalls, more mediums, lots of large, some XL, few 2XL+. Now, go to areas like Oklahoma and that shifts to the bigger end of the spectrum. Just is what it is, no judgement implied.

Totally agree - you get what you pay for. Many times these decision makers see the cheap shirts they can get from online vendors and expect to pay the same prices. Meanwhile its a super cheap dual blend poly/cotton shirt with a thick gross plastisol imprint that will crack and fade in 3 washes. You can get a $4 t-shirt as a brewery owner, but you honestly shouldn't. Spend the extra money on a quality product that people will be happy to wear for a long time.

 

Pretty broad generalizations in this post. This might be your experience and perhaps your customer's experience, but it certainly is not representative. If anything you said were true, then by basic economics, breweries would offer these things in such quantities that you wouldn't have to post about it.

 

Interesting. My experience with about 5 or 6 shirts now - ranging from better quality ones like American Apparel to the cheapo ones - is the same. They all pill after a few washes and end up feeling quite rough and slightly mishapen. A local brewery charges $40 for them because they are made here in Canada. They still pill and look awful on me.

Moreover, the ones that are cut very slim are just uncomfortable from the start, even in a size too big for me. (I wear large in traditional t-shirts). They either cling or droop when too big.

I’ve given up on brewery tshirts. I just did a blitz of breweries in Brooklyn and didn’t buy one shirt because they were all made of this 50/50 blend.




I suppose the fact that this is pet peeve of mine has come through loud and clear! Lol.

 

Man, I'm in the same boat. Only I look like a weirdo because I'm checking tags and giving the imprint a thorough feel to check to see what method they used. Then of course I do the math in my head on what the shirt cost to make, what the printer sold it for and what the brewery likely paid for it. I end up not buying them.

 

You're not the only person checking tags and vehemently groping shirts on a hanger for purchase.

I agree with a lot of you. I am quite particular when it comes to shirts, too. Maybe this will help those of you who have difficulty finding stuff that works, even if it's not brewery shirts. Now, if a Brewery actually sold something like these, I'd be impressed.

The following type of shirt is the only style/material/type of shirt I can wear in (a real*) XLT and not look like a complete oaf. DT stopped making these and I cannot find a single one for sale on even ebay in the right size/material last time I looked.




I have taken these to tailors and they wanted $100 a shirt to build the same as above. When all mine finally wear out, I will likely be getting these hand-built custom unless I can find other equivalent OTR: I'll spend less on these in the long run than I would churning through crappy, ill-fitting shirts....and, no, I will NOT pay what untuckit wants for a shirt like this because the heft and material are all wrong.



*...most XL and XLT are what I have come to colloquially call "The Coastal XL" (in reality, a medium at best)....XL and XLT has been a standard of lengths and a size of chest 46"-48" and not narrow shoulders...gall-darn-it, they need to stop bastardizing the size of a shirt. re: https://www.destinationxl.com/mens-big-and-tall-store/static/sizingchart

 

I have not had any issue locating my size (L or XL depending on the shirt). In my area I think the average size brewery/beer bar clientele is a medium or large.

One thing that I am not a fan of is that a lot of the brewery t-shirts are the modern, thin, somewhat stretchy and fitted material (hip). I prefer the fit of a traditional cotton t-shirt.

 

Instead of complaining about sizing issues, lose weight and fit in normal clothes. I'm 6'5 and can get brewery gear no problem! You don't see me bitching about the lack of tall options at breweries.

Thank you for listening to my TED talk.

 

Managed a taproom for several years. There's not nearly as many 2X and 3X purchasers out there as some have suggested in this thread. They in turn purchased very few shirts. Much like several other demographics M and L are the bread and butter for breweries. The reason so many breweries only XL and XXL available of certain shirts is because they are hardly being purchased. Furthermore women very regularly buy the men's cuts. I now work for another brewery who is moving to unisex tees. My previous brewery is considering doing the same.

Both breweries I have worked for received an overwhelming request for flannels, workshirts, or whatever other collared shirt someone fashioned. When the flannels were brought in they collected dust.

The future is unisex tees. Like it or not breweries are responding to the desires of their customer base.

This topic is not a mystery. Simple economics.