Discuss the process of getting your t-shirt line into brick and mortar stores and selling offline. Topics include industry tradeshows, events, line sheets, sales reps and other retailing tips and advice.
I am taking a trip to see some friends up in Boston in about two weeks and am about to start calling some boutiques up there to meet with their buyers and owners. You might already know what kind of style of stuff I do, but it's lots of weird cartoons and slogans, sort of somewhere between maybe NoStar and Johnny Cupcakes?
Anyway, I am already planning on hitting up Magpie, Hootenanny, and Motley in Boston. Would anyone else be kind enough to suggest other boutiques that I should look into? I have done loads of searches, read through Yelp reviews, and even gone through retailer lists of some of my competitors' websites.
Also, any suggestions on calling up boutiques to try and meet with their owners/buyers would be much appreciated. I need to write out a script for myself.
Thanks in advance!
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I called them up beforehand and just said the basic "hi my name is blah blah and I'm with an apparel company out of virginia called blah blah I was wondering if I could speak with the manager or buyer?" then we'd chat for a second and work out a time to come in. then, I came in with a few folded samples and my line sheet - the two actual meetings just took a few minutes apiece. I'd show them the stuff, they'd ask questions, etc etc. I think half of it at least is just putting your presentation materials (line sheet is KEY) together and doing research on stores in the area to find out who would probably be a good fit for your gear.
__________________ SEIBEI - put a monster in your closet.
Follow me on Twitter @davidSEIBEI
when you say you got new accounts, does that mean they bought/orderd your shirts? to have an account, does this involve contracts and when is the contract assigned, the day of or emailed or faxed at a later date? thank you..
just wanted to know what the proper items to include in a line sheet are...thanks!
Joe
Do a forum search for "line sheet" and you'll find more information on what to include. Also try the popular tag search. In general, it's a good idea to start a new topic for new questions instead of posting another existing thread. That makes sure your question gets the most exposure
selling to t-shirt boutiques in Boston? 
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