Everyone talks about perseverance, but Scott Alterman and the team at The Icebox have the battle scars to prove what it really means.
What happens when a Top 50 promotional products distributor gets hit with a ransomware attack harder than COVID? When clients fragment their RFPs across multiple vendors? When the very definition of speed shifts from two-week quotes to same-day responses?
Scott Alterman, Chief SWAG Officer and co-founder of The Icebox, knows exactly what happens. You reinvent yourself. Again.
For nearly 25 years, The Icebox has been one of the most vibrant brands in promotional products. Based in Atlanta with 140 employees and 150,000 square feet of warehouse space, they've built a reputation for creative excellence and program business that serves powerhouse brands like Delta Air Lines, Microsoft, Google, and Buffalo Wild Wings. But the journey to becoming a leading branded merchandise agency wasn't just about growth—it was about surviving setbacks that would sink most companies and emerging stronger each time.
In this conversation with commonsku's Bobby Lehew, Scott pulls back the curtain on navigating unprecedented challenges, shifting from custom at-once business to program-heavy inventory models, and why speed has become the only metric that matters.
Here's what's changing fast: major brands are intentionally splitting their programs across multiple distributors. Where The Icebox once competed to be the exclusive partner, they're now winning RFPs and capturing only a portion of available business.
It's strategic diversification driven by tariff volatility and supply chain uncertainty. Clients want comparison pricing and backup options when costs suddenly shift 20-30%. Scott gets it from the client's perspective—it's smart risk management. But it fundamentally changes the game for distributors who built businesses assuming that winning meant owning the category.
The Icebox is adapting by becoming more targeted in business development. They know which clients they serve best and go after those accounts with precision.
The Icebox isn't ignoring print on demand. They're plugging into POD supply chains where necessary and building better Shopify integrations. But they're doubling down on their original model: real inventory on shelves, ready to ship.
Why? Because speed still wins. Nothing beats inventory when a client with thousands of locations needs product everywhere, yesterday. POD has its place for eliminating dead stock risk, but when you're managing a uniform program for a national restaurant chain, inventory delivers what POD cannot: true speed at scale.
This is the Amazon effect Scott references repeatedly. Business buyers are consumers now, trained to expect same-day fulfillment. The Icebox can't compete with Amazon's freight leverage, but they can stock the right products for their clients and ship with remarkable speed.
The Icebox experienced something worse than the pandemic: a ransomware attack on their third-party provider. COVID was universal—everyone understood delays. A cyber attack isolated to your business? Customers were sympathetic at first, then increasingly less so.
Scott describes it as the hardest period in their 25-year history. The team went manual on everything just to keep servicing customers, with people going above and beyond in ways he won't forget. What could have destroyed the company instead forced an accelerated software transition they'd been considering.
Today, they're back in growth mode with lessons earned through adversity. After a few tough years of surviving, growth feels exciting again.
The Icebox needed software that could handle enterprise complexity without breaking their workflow. For Scott, the value goes beyond features. Mark and Catherine come from the industry and understand the nuances—the weirdness—of promotional products. Newer software providers jumping into promo don't get why this industry is complex. They think it's just t-shirts and hats.
The results are tangible. The Icebox sales team now delivers consistent customer experiences regardless of rep. Quotes look professional and uniform. Reorders happen faster. Reminders keep teams on top of annual events.
Most importantly, commonsku helps organize sales leadership and individual reps to manage their days more efficiently. For a company built on incredible people and culture, giving those people better tools amplifies what already makes The Icebox great.
Scott gets genuinely excited talking about AI strategy, new decoration technologies, and emerging product trends. NFC chips. Wellness apparel with anxiety-relief technology. The gap between retail trends and promo used to be years—now it's closing rapidly.
Why? Major retail brands have entered promotional products. Brands The Icebox couldn't offer five years ago are now available, and clients want them. Access to these brands combined with faster trend cycles means distributors need to stay current with retail in ways they never did before.
After 24+ years, Scott still finds it exciting to come to work. That's the mark of someone who's found the intersection of passion and business viability.
The Icebox's story isn't about avoiding challenges—it's about using challenges as catalysts. Scott's most proud of building a team that grinds through obstacles, takes lessons from setbacks, and grows stronger.
Modern promotional products distribution requires mastering contradictions: speed and precision, inventory and flexibility, technology and relationships, enterprise scale and personal touch. The companies thriving today don't choose between these things—they excel at all of them.
The Icebox chose to lean into program business when staying in custom work would have been easier. They invested in software transitions during crisis when conserving cash would have been simpler. They're embracing AI while staying true to the culture that's always defined their brand.
After nearly 25 years, The Icebox remains one of the most vibrant brands in promotional products. Not because they avoided tough times, but because they used those times to become something better.
[00:02:14] How customers have transformed over years
[00:03:15] Shifting from at-once to programmatic business
[00:06:07] Client fragmentation: splitting RFPs across vendors
[00:07:52] Surviving ransomware (harder than COVID)
[00:10:27] The Icebox today: 140 employees, 25th anniversary approaching
[00:11:53] POD vs. inventory: why stock still wins
[00:15:10] commonsku partnership and customer experience
[00:20:22] Scott's evolving role as founder
[00:24:33] AI strategy and emerging technologies
[00:25:38] Retail trends closing the gap with promo