I’m posting this as a public service, because in the past few months many have asked me what happened to Sublimators First Choice. This is the company that manufactures 100% Made in the USA sublimation mugs.
Here is what happened. Once they started not really carrying imported mugs, they shut their old sublimators1choice.com site down. However, they do offer Made in the USA blank mugs through their retail site www.mugworldinc.com. Prices, however, are not on the site. You will need to contact them.
Before you contact them, here’s facts that may be useful. They offer oversized 15 oz. mugs, with a top-notch coating, advertised as microwave, dishwasher and UV safe and incredibly strong.
As some gasp, I’ll also tell you that they are more expensive than China and Taiwan mugs. Americans just don’t work under the same safety, health and economic conditions as other countries, nor would you.
What we have been advising our successful clients to do is to add just the actual cost difference of the USA mug to their retail prices. If you share even a bit of the USA story, a great many military, civic, school and business organizations will gladly pay a bit more. It may even surprise you how USA is a plus to many.
The short story: A number of years ago, a very good USA mug company in Arizona went out of business, because of cheap imports (sound like a familiar story?). A bit over a year ago, Mug World owner, Jim Ivans, became determined to reopen the company.
Taking a chance, he invested money, hired employees and managers, reopened and now has over 100 people with jobs. Two snaps and two thumbs up!
I’ve never met the man (I have, however, sublimated some of his excellent mugs) but he is a hoot to talk to over the telephone. I asked him one time why he took the chance, when he could have safely just continued importing.
His response was candid and blunt: “Well Jack, I am a businessman and I felt like a top American made mug could succeed. And, if the truth be known, I’ve got USA on one cheek and USMC on the other, and I just wanted to”.
As a formal disclaimer, I am not affiliated with Mug World, nor does Jim even know I am making this post.
I used to buy from LRI as they had some items I couldn't find elsewhere. The problem I had was inconsistent quality and their
return policy. The most difficult in the industry to deal with. Most
vendors 1,2,3 to return an item. These guys send a couple pages of instructions and then don't guarantee a replacement/refund. I even had a rep from there tell me basically I was lying, as they check their products and they don't believe the quality I got was inferior. So no LRI for me.
Others may have different experiences, but I work with vendors that provide quality service for my shop.
Made in the USA Mugs 
