The Backpack: Issue #28

How to fight rats in New York City? With merch.

“We Love NYC” dropped an epic merch collection to celebrate “the good, the bad and the funky” of the Big Apple, including a rad marketing strategy: “As part of the collection’s launch, a series of black trash bags were scattered around the city on Wednesday that read 'Trash Talk.' Each bag contains a QR code to  www.welovenyccollection.com, where the merch can be explored and purchased.” BTW: Remember when merch was once considered by some as trash, and now cool brands use merch to combat trash? LMAO. Check out the entire line-up here. And, BTW, this “Stay Trashy” tote is siiiick.

Hottest Thing on the Menu is the Merch

“Every time I go to a restaurant that I really like, the first thing that I'll do is either ask them if they have merch, or check if they have merch … if the graphic is good, if the material is good, quality is good, the price is good, I'm going to buy that just the same as I would buy any other kind of fashion piece.” So says Alex Wong, who gave a breakdown of what’s happening in the fantastic Toronto foodie scene. “You want to rep your neighborhood. You want to rep your favorite restaurant .. in the same way that you want to rep a Raptors Jersey if that's your favorite team.” Our faves? This Rooster Coffee toque. Or maybe this Sunday’s Coffee Club tote. Or the Pete Davidson? Best merch overall: Ruru Baked. Shout-out to promo distrib Artik for the mention!

Nothing Says “I Love You” Like a Stanley Tumbler

This Valentine's mug frenzy is insane. But y’all know that Stanley cups were one of the hottest gifts given to Gen-Z over Christmas, right? Which means (as one pub put it) “Stanley cups have entered their Crocs era.” Some Stanleys are already reselling on eBay for $240. What’s this mean for backpackers? Seize da moment. Drinkware, particularly the oversized, I-should-be-a-camel-for-drinking-this-much-water type, is HOT (and also kinda cool). 🤗 Why? “Reusable water bottles have become subcultural signifiers more reflective of the person carrying them than the stuff that's inside them. In a society where you are what you buy, even your preferred water-holding device carries meaning.” Is drinkware poised to overtake the t-shirt as "most covetable merch" in 2024? What say you, backpacker?

Come hang with your commonsku pals @ Expo 2024!

From our breakfast club social at Libertine to our community Happy Hour, we got plenty of time and space for friends, so come connect with members of the skummunity and drop by and see us! (RSVP required).

commonsku University: Get Your Learn ON!

School’s in! Profs Aaron, Allison, Marcella, and Erin will be waiting for you on Monday, Jan 15 at 1 PM sharp, to educate you on best practices, what's new, platform tips and tricks and more. Who should attend? Distributor customers in any role! And if you’re already a customer, guess what? You’re already enrolled! Just head on over to Mandalay Bay Convention Center’s (Jasmine ABEF) where the profs will be waitin’ for ya. There’s no better time to brush up on your platform skills, so, toss those textbooks in your backpacks and we'll see you there!

Get Your Supplier Partner Expo Map!

Each year, we produce a wildy popular, handy lil’ guide (for you and your team) that features all commonsku connected suppliers and their booths. The Expo floor features hundreds of suppliers and thousands of products, searching for the right item with the right partner can be exhausting! Until now. Save a few miles by hittin’ the best and brightest with this convenient list — and be sure and send it to your team!

Can’t Make Expo? Join our “Road Ahead” Webinar

Join Charlie Moscoe, commonsku’s VP of Product Management, as he walks through “The Road Ahead,” unveiling all the exciting new developments up-and-coming for the platform. The webinar is Thursday, Feb 1st, at 2 PM ET; register here!

Get Ready for the 2024 Fashion Trend: Quiet Outdoor

According to Business of Fashion’s 2024 report, Gorpcore is still on the rise, but many brands plan on a quieter form of outdoor fashion. Inspired by earthier silhouettes from Salomon shoes and brands like Arc’Teryx’s high-end Veilance line, “quiet outdoor” is a gentle escape from loud and brashy colorways to a little hike on the milder side: “Similar to how the ‘quiet luxury’ aesthetic gained popularity as consumer interest in streetwear waned, ‘quiet outdoor’ styles are likely to gain popularity in the year ahead, with consumer preferences shifting from flashy performance jackets and cargo trousers to elevated garments with minimal logos while still featuring technical fabrics.” Other trends relevant to our industry? “71% of fashion execs plan to spend more on brand marketing in 2024,” and travel merch should be in your client’s 2024 budget because 2024 could be the biggest travel year yet. Pack those XT-6’s pals, time to embrace the quiet!

Trend? TTC Tour Brands Drops All Merch Buying

While the rest of the world embraces merch, one brand decided to halt all merch spending to “tackle the climate crisis.” TTC Tour Brands and their affiliate portfolio of companies will no longer order branded merchandise for gifting. “In its place, TTC Tour Brands will repurpose the funds traditionally allocated to branded merchandise and introduce donations to nature-based solutions projects that will remove a further 1.5 million car-driven miles’ worth of carbon emissions from the atmosphere by December 2024.” What say you, backpacker? Is this a trend that could continue?

Is In-House Production Becoming a Dead-End?

What’s curious about the Custom Ink layoffs at the Dallas production facility is this little line in PPAI’s Newslink: “Custom Ink, which Fortune ranked as No. 8 on its Best Workplaces in Retail 2023 list, is ceasing all in-house production ‘to improve performance and better align the business with its tech-oriented growth strategy,’ the company told the Washington Business Journal.” Which begs the question: As production speeds increase everywhere and decoration specialization proliferates, are vertically integrated merch distributors dying? Do you think more and more distributors who decorate in-house are shuttering their in-house ops and opting to outsource?

🌶️ You know what your perfect lil’ merch-lovin’ heart needs? This Chipotle car visor napkin holder. Don’t laugh. It sold out.

☂️ Or maybe —for words nerds— this Right-Type umbrella from The New Yorker.

👀 Merch shop we’re lovin’: Zapier (Oh, and if you need the industry’s easiest way to build a pop-up shop, we got you).

📆 Yeah, we know the holidays are over, but did you see all the cool advent calendars that dropped this season? Who’s responsible? Might be our friends at twelveNYC. Take a peek.

▶️ Vice is slingin’ sticks at “YouTuber merch”.

⭐ Y’all heard about country star Luke Combs and the counterfeit merch dust-up, right? A superfan created some merch and got sued by his lawyers for copyright infringement, and Mr. “She Got the Best of Me” decided she would: he not only apologized to the fan for getting sued, he’s even doubling the profit she made and created a commemorative mug to raise even more funds on her behalf. Way to counter the counterfeiters, cowboy, hat tip to ya! 🤠

📈 Some economic news: Inflation’s fading, but what’s disinflation?

💸 Did you know that on the commonsku platform, you can take ACH payments (with Stripe) from clients? Make that bank quicker, details here!