Team Insight

Inventory concerns continue, but dealers are turning to reliable suppliers to fill orders. By Carly Russo TEAM HEADWEAR HEAD-ACHES D elayed seasons, cancelled games, sick players, unavailable fields and, capping it all off, supply chain disruptions all made for a unique past year for the team head- wear business. So while the first four of those challenges have been mostly put in the past, that last item – supply chain issues – remained a headache this spring season and into the all-important summer and fall ball campaigns. Team dealers are not hesitant to address the issue. "All I can say is that the hat suppliers are all having problems, it's very hard to get them and if they do have them, it takes a long time to get them printed," says Jeffrey Reynolds, owner of Reynolds & Sons, Grand Rapids, MI. Exacerbating the problem: "No one orders early — it's as needed per season and they don't get extras." ese supply chain issues make it much harder for team dealers to respond to those last-minute orders or changes than in the past. A return to pre-pandemic level sales with lead times taking up to a minimum of six weeks makes it difficult to tell when hats will come back in stock. Even when they do, it's impos- sible for dealers to tell how many backorders have already been placed for the styles teams want, which means they'll sell out again in the blink of an eye. "It was terrible this year trying to get hats. is year was harder than last year," reports Betsy Frey, owner of Holyoke Sporting Goods, Holyoke, MA. "We're still not up to full strength. We are probably close to 70 percent of what our sales were before the pandemic." For Frey, part of the challenge for this season was matching caps with shirts to provide teams with the proper uniforms. "ere were shortages on shirts this year, too," she says. is affected not only her regular team orders, but her All Star League orders, too. Typically All Star teams get fancier uniforms, but this year Frey reports that they had no choice but to settle for the basics and sacrifice the upgraded styles they're used to. Finding Solutions to Supply Problems Since caps are essential for any uniform, dealers report that they are working with more manufacturers than ever to compensate for the shortages. "e biggest issue is availability. Cap manu- facturers that weren't big before are now more popular because they have caps in stock," says Jerry Luna, owner of First String Sports, Fresno, CA. One solution is to spread the orders around to whatever company has the inventory. Where Luna used to work with two to three cap manu- facturers at a time, he now works with five or six. "You have to have several sources ready," he says. More manufacturers means more work for team dealers. Luna reports he used to get a lot more done during the day working with less cap companies to place orders. "It used to be simple. Now the process takes a lot longer," he says. Another common issue has to do with sizing. Half the battle is placing and receiving the orders, but the larger issue at hand is gaps in orders. Team dealers are now finding themselves in a position where they order caps but are missing specific sizes, causing them to spend 22 • Team Insight ~ July/August 2022 teaminsightmag.com Cap America's i8522 Premium Athletic Cap is a low-profile, soft-structured, full-fabric cap with a standard pre-curved visor. It is made of 100 percent polyester fabric that has been treated to include UV protection and moisture wicking capabilities. The closure is a stretch- able hook-and-loop for a comfortable fit. Advice for Dealers: "Look for inventory that's in and go with styles that are in stock. Don't wait on the arrival of inventory as it's still unreliable for now. Steer the customer to what is available. Cap America has lots of inventory right now and we're ready to partner with team dealers to help them. If coaches still aren't sure, free spec samples can go a really long way in convincing them they'll love the style, even if it's different from what they normally go with." — Grace Schettler, VP–Sales

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