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Let's face it, styles change. An ability to be "ready" for the day's challenges, means a workable wardrobe. Comfortable fabrics can be dressed up or down make your wardrobe- work. A smart, well dressed individual knows the details matter when selecting clothing. Fabrics that are easy care, that don't require a lot of pressing to stay crisp & sharp are a plus when developing an adaptable wardrobe. Similarly, core staples that work jeans, then transfer easily to a more professional setting or upscale after-hours event are a must for any closet. Fit is now more relaxed, rather than fitted styles that are super close to the body, modern fabrics with more give to the construction allow the individual to decide what feel & fit works best for their body type and comfort level. Think about it, when you feel good, you are in a good mood and more likely to project confidence. What types of fabric provide more flexibility? Tri-blends due to the rayon Fabrics with spandex yarns Softer CVC blends or 100% cotton with french terry or sponge fleece Often, organic and reclaimed materials may feel more comfortable to wear. A signature jacket or sweater that is easily dressed up or down, neutral color choices that work with pops of color from your wardrobe that fit your personal style are both considerations when developing a corporate look that feels right for everyone on the team. It's no longer essential we be dressed in matching outfits, it's more important that we look cohesive as a team! Cohesiveness is the secret to a workable wardrobe. Let's refresh your style for 2024; that's what the showroom experience offers.

Post-Millennials, Neo-Digital Natives or Zoomers. The most important thing to remember about Generation Z is that they represent a huge, influential group of people. In fact, they’re your next customer. What's important to you? Gen Z is Diverse According to the Pew Research Center, Generation Z is the most ethnically diverse generation yet, and “represents the leading edge of the country’s changing racial and ethnic makeup.” The communities they form are based on common beliefs rather than physical characteristics or geographical proximity. When it comes to fashion and apparel, they expect to see this diversity reflected in their partnerships. How can your clothing choices be inclusive? By adaptable to multiple sizes Offering uncomplicated in design for comfort & mobility Pro-actively constructed with the climate in mind. Our showroom location is your fashion destination. In fact, it's the perfect place to compare options constructed from recycled fabrics & yarns designed to neutralize their environmental impact. Keep the converstation going digitally- learn more about the supply chain & labor force behind product selections. Then keep learning about new decoration process. Our blog is pack with posts that reflect brand stories that are making a difference. Discover those here. We have ways to make your team -"work" with branded peices layered into to a workable wardrobe. What is a workable wardrobe? Keep following our blog for the secrets.

Strategic Merchandising Solutions don't just happen; planning is required. We used market-specific data to curate collections of top sellers for key vertical markets. These proven solutions are an easy way to kickstart the conversation for your 2024 brand engagement. Life is a series of memories. How & where are consumers identifying with your brand message? More importantly, what will they say about you and what will they remember when you're not around to share your message? Social media is one location for dialogue- but your brand message will travel. Make sure it's in the right place, the right time, the right hand. Right now is the perfect time to plan. A visit to the showroom, in person or virtually with our team will round out the checklist for: New Trends New Decoration Methods New Marketing Strategies Graphics that make your brand message soar. It's our collaboration behind the scenes that projects your brand & elevates your message. It's also the visionary assurance and united purpose you've come to trust in us as a partner. Can't make it yet ask us to send you our planning guide for 2024. Jump start your planning with a wishlist here.

"Home is where the heart is" and self-care is a huge part of caring for the "whole person". The heart of most homes starts in the kitchen. Recipes & memories around food & culture. From comfort foods & seasonal beverages to entertaining, the kitchen is a busy location in the home. It's also the perfect spot to provide long-lasting brand impressions. Yes, it might be a quirky idea, but we love those moments when products become infused with your lifestyle. Not everyone is an outdoor enthusiast, avid about exercise or reading, but we all have to eat. Nourish relationships with some pampering in the home. Ask about brands such as: Cuisinart La Cuisine Lodge Prime Chef CraftKitchen Breville Old Mountain Hamilton Beach Personalize your gift by collaborating on a custom cookbook, filled with employee recipes. Get to know your team internally or the team that supports your company's services by learning more about each other. Recipes are a great way to share culture, along with time hacks. Our talented graphics team will use your photos of food & family to round out & project the story behind your brand. Let's take it a step further and include a grocery shopping bag that's both stylish and filled with heart- FEED the body, mind, and soul of children. Investing in each other forges lasting relationships. Let's curate the right kit to send the heart of the home.

We’re big believers in collaboration, design, and the ability to bring something incredible to life… together. We curate partnerships that offer us a canvas to play, this partner has not only the canvas but the tools to help you create your masterpiece. There is only one you, so why not make sure your brand identity represents the elements that sum up the identity of YOU! Imagine what innovation, decades of experience, and premium fabrics that last a lifetime can do for your brand. Eliminate the barriers and allow creativity to deliver the unexpected. No matter your style preferences for color or need- warmth, shedding the rain or snow, even a walk around town. The choice is yours. Don't worry about the products before you wear them- environmentally-sound materials for construction and a workplace with a safe, socially, and ethically positive environment. Let's create. Together.

Today is National Cookie Day! Let's make some dough! You'll need a spactula Stand mixer or hand mixer? Now let's bake those cookies- don't forget the oven mitt or maybe an oven stick. Serve those cookies on an artisan board. Store those cookies. No time, leave it to Mrs. Feilds, and 25 more ways to satisfy the sweet tooth. Every business needs "dough"- cash flow is key to operations for every type of business. Marketing is about driving engagement for your brand and relies on specific objectives to demonstrate the reaction behind your strategy. Because your business has different types of messages around your value- once you've created attention your brand needs to reflect the message you've been conveying. Name brand products in the home are a smart way to convey the value of relationships- consistency & trust are two values consumers associate with major name brands. Besides, kitchen products are just "quirky enough to work". Innovative ideas that get results. You might even say we go together with your marketing efforts like milk & cookies! Sweet right?

Outerwear as we shared in our last post has some impressive stat's, providing compelling reasons to consider for your marketing & gifting needs. Your ability to meet one on one with our experienced and certified team is a huge advantage in the selection process. We can show you the decoration methods in person, comparing the look & feel. Our talented design team can quickly simulate the look of your final selection. Access to our 3000sq ft showroom means many of the styles you'd like to compare for fit and feel will be here for you or your team to consider. It's part of our local advantage. Embroidery: A classic decorating technique, that's been around 30,000 years. Your art file is is stitched into the fabric. Some of the benefits of embroidery are professional and sophisticated style, durability for multiple wears and washes; ideal for premium gifts. Deboss: Logo is stamped into the surface using a heated custom metal die. This style allows you to have a premium high-end look and feel, a unique 3D appearance, a subtle tone-on-tone look, & a more eco-friendly decorating technique. It's colorless. Laser: The design is laser etched into the item, burning a pattern into the apparel fabric. Laser decoration can offer a unique tone-on-tone look, excellent detail, and permanent design, & it is great for multimedia decoration. Transfer: Artwork is digitally printed into a film and then transferred to the fabric. The transfer allows you to have the ability to produce full-color detailed prints, superior clarity, and precision in comparison to silkscreen, & versatility to create unique graphics. Dimensional Patch: Is a popular new process, your logo is applied to a flexiable rubber- silicone like material that can have texture, 3D raised areas, and color added to the surface- including metallics and can be cut to form around the contours instead of within a shape; shown here like a patch on a circle. We love sharing images & information live from the showroom in our social stories- did you catch this one recently? The processes for each jacket vary by fabric & style. Contact us or come to the showroom for your local advantage of seeing these jackets in person!

As the winter months approach, make sure your brand wrapping up it's best engagment! Putting a spotlight on your brand means marketing strategies utiizing products that are seen, kept and used. Zip up your marketing efforts in every element through stylish, trendy, and customized jackets. Outerwear is a consistently a top performer when it comes to corporate gifting generating a long life of impressions. Long lasting here in the south-outwear also has numerous ways to decorate. The high return on your investment, combined with the low cost per impression means long life for your marketing efforts. How about influencing your target markets? Now, what to select? Ah- that is one of your partner advantages. Come to the showroom to explore options for fit, feel and decoration methods. Beside trendy styles, what about construction with the environment considered- giving back through our 1% for The Planet Partnership and selections with responsiable partnerships through our proud path collection & B-Corp partnerships. Watch our video here. For example a popular fabric for clothing is made from RPET, which stands for “recycled polyethylene terephthalate.” (Don’t worry there isn’t going to be a spelling test). All you need to know is it's the most commonly recycled plastic in the world. In addition to the environmental influence that final touch in the process, is decoration method. Decoration is the first introduction to your brand from a marketing standpoint. What captures attention visually? Follow our next post to learn more about the processes. We can't wait for you to try on some of the trendy samples we have to offer!

Where do you find inspiration? When we take time to listen, watch, think & reflect- there is an opportunity to be influenced by content. Many influences are pushed at us- images on socials, videos or listening to a podcast conversation. However what happens when we are forced to sit one-on- one with strangers and generate conversation? Often the act of participating in conversation can influence your perspective. Today I had the opportunity to be part of Wake County Public School's annual Career Academy Internship Summit. There were sessions designed to assist students with becoming more comfortable with the processes of finding & securing an internship. There were discussions around crafting a resume, positioning value, and how to leverage networking for securing a job. While similar concerns & fears were common among students in each session, the common concern that intrigued me was around identifying the culture of the company. Our power's of observation teach us a lot. For example how individuals dress & interact immediately sets a tone. Similarly the environmental setting plays a huge part in the type of interaction that takes place daily in the space. Is the office an open concept or closed off in cubical? What can you hear? Maybe music, laughing, a hum of equipment or even quiet like a library. How about the physical interior? Perhaps it is modern & uncluttered or cozy & an eclectic . Do walls have upscale professional photography & paintings or group photos of co- workers teamed up to volunteer? How about signs of personality & fun like a straw hat or foam finger souvenir from a conference. Conversation has to be ignited and should be an exchange of thoughts between individuals. By sharing our stories, fears and commonalities impressions are made, which influence our perspective long after conversation ceases. Hopefully each of the students came away today with insights that will make their next steps less stressful & the outcome productive to their future careers. Read more about WCPSS career academies from last year's post around building a network here.

Your love or hate of snow is probably proportional to the amount of time you spend shoveling! For those that rarely see snow, it's fun to be in a blanket of white and build a snowman. In areas where snow happens for months, we get that you may not be in love with the fluffy white stuff. Either way, love it or hate it, there is no denying that snow is assocaited with year-end holidays and winter promotions. From now till the end of December we suggest you embrace a snow day! Get out to play, shop & dine. Our 4 reasons to embrace snow this season! Simple mailers or point of purchase thank you gifts: Stencils, repositionable sticker pages - even box kits. We covered those options in this earlier post about unwrapping the magic of the holidays. In fact, here is a quick video of the repositionable sticker sheet. Snowman Tees & Bags- If you love snow, purchase one of our snow designs from our Believe in Community pop up web store launching Apex Small Business Saturday. Plan to fill your bag with goodies from surrounding local businesses. Purchase from our online store 24-7, then pick up with us or shop with our partner Sixpence Accents on Salem Street. #shopsmallapex Bid on our Wintery Salem Street submission with the annual Town of Apex Halle Tree & Wreath contest- benefiting Western Wake Crisis Ministry. Details here. Keep watching our socials for a sneak peek! It's our 16th year being part of this annual program. Downtown Apex Business Snowball Fight! Help the Downtown Apex Merchant's stock the shelves for the opening of White Oak Foundation's Young Scholar Academy & Childcare Center. Read more about the event here. This flurry of fun demonstrates a collective heart & it's how the downtown merchant's are going "all in" for the Town of Apex sesquicentennial journey! Follow our hashtags- #apex150 #apexbelievesincommunity #downtownapexnc Do you know what else is cool about these items- woman-owned partnerships!!

What's happening in Downtown Apex this year? SNOW!!! Collectively the Historic Downtown Apex family is bringing a flurry of fun, while showcasing our heart, during the holiday season through a snowball fight! That’s right, a snowball fight. The Town of Apex is celebrating 150 years & the local downtown merchants are accepting the challenge to “go all in” to celebrate. Our downtown family of businesses are investing in the potential of youth, by partnering with the White Oak Foundation, to fill the shelves of their new Young Scholar Academy & Childcare Center opening 2023! By working together, the Downtown Merchants & the Rotary Club of Apex are creating an avalanche of fun with an immersive experience that’s a 150-story of our past, present, and potential. The Rotary Club of Apex will Let it Snow in The Depot for 2 hours prior to the start of the annual Christmas parade. From 3-5 p.m., Santa & Mrs. Claus will embrace the wintry mix of fun which includes free photos & interactive activities for cherished family memories. Make sure to note the snowball sponsors displayed in The Depot, their generosity will help the club give back to 6 local organizations from this frosty event. The snow will continue to fall downtown throughout the holiday season, as merchants launch a snowball fight which fires off the night of the annual Town of Apex Tree Lighting. Each participating business is fighting to get at least 150 snowballs displayed on their windows, challenging their patrons to demonstrate their heart & belief in community by purchasing at least one snowball. 100% of each donation will stock the shelves for the new White Oak Foundation Young Scholar Academy & Childcare Center. Businesses will have a list of ways you can volunteer, a flurry of special offers for believing, and be the only place to secure one of the exclusive 150 “Believe in Community” beanies. White Oak Foundation has deep roots in giving back to the Apex community. Supporting this program will create a solid start & strong foundation for youth, an essential step in developing the potential of our future generations & community leaders. Only one question remains, will you believe in community this holiday season? What's the full story behind this collective effort, follow the story & businesses participating in our snowball fight here and learn more about event details here. Expand the story: What makes Apex so special to Olivia? Watch here. Learn more about White Oak's Summer Enrichment Camp here.

Today is Veteran's Day 2023. Local organizations throughout the USA will be honoring veteran's today. Our post today is a nod back to our April story about American Legion Post 124 here. We are headed over for the ceremony today. How can you honor & assist veteran's year round? Through programs that respond to veteran challenges. Here are 2 stories: For 20 years the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has adapted and grown to meet the changing needs of injured veterans, their families and service members. The Basecamp brand is committed to assisting in The WWP in their mission. At it's core the Basecamp brand is a line of outdoor and camping-type products. What do you need to enjoy the outdoors? Bottles, tumblers, camp chairs and hammocks, backpacks, coolers, flashlights and jackets! As a brand, not only are their products premium quality, but each has a cool, tactical vibe that pairs well with the mission of the Wounded Warrior Project. Plus Basecamp gives back to WWP. In 2022 they donated $125,000 in 2022 to support the Wounded Warrior Project’s mission to honor and empower wounded veterans. Similarly, Patriot brand has been making a huge impact for veterans for years through homes that serve the needs of veterans. Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) is a publicly funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that builds & donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. Homes For Our Troops provides a pro-bono financial planner for three years to assist in financial planning and household budgeting, in addition to home ownership education and warranty coverage to ensure that the Veteran is set up for long-term success as a homeowner. Since 2004, HFOT has built 295 specially adapted homes nationwide. Their goal is to build a home for every Veteran who qualifies for one of their specially adapted homes. Watch more about this project here. Patriot brand products are a line of quality coolers, vacuum insulated tumblers performs under all conditions. Built to work hard & play hard- this is a brand that will be with your recipient for a long time. 20% of the net profit from you purchase will be donated to HFOT through our partnership. We offer a broad line of ways to align your brand to organizations that seek to make a difference.