Veloswap

STC threadwear       www.STCthreadwear.com.

www.sparetirecycling.com

We hauled our wares to Veloswap this past weekend to introduce them to the world.  For those who don't know, Veloswap is like a giant flea market for bikes and bike stuff. It was a bit of a nervous beginning as hordes of rabid shoppers busted through the gates of the Western National Complex on their way to consumer heaven.   The attached pic is of our booth the day before the event after setting up.  The stampede headed straight for our booth . . . and then kept on going, all the way to the depths of the complex where the mega bargains live.   The first couple hundred folks that come through the doors had been lined up for hours outside of the building, braving 40 degree weather for the chance to get the first glimpses of Veloswap's best deals.  Those folks blew by without even a glance.  They were focused.  Finally, a lady walking by our booth turned to her husband and matter-of-factly said,"I want that one."  She was pointing to the Columbines and Chainrings design.  Ah, at last, a sale!  As I scurried to the back of the booth to press out a fresh shirt, the flood gates opened.  For the next 4 hours, I barely had time to pee as the orders kept coming in.  Thankfully, Laura had come to rescue us just as things were getting really busy.  Both she and Dan worked the front of the booth as I tucked myself into the back to work the heat press.  At one point I turned to Dan and stammered, "This is more stressful than a packed ER, or even a patient trying to die!"  We got great feedback about the designs throughout the day.  I'm sure the "FREE BEER" coupons helped some (We partnered with Upslope Brewery to offer a free pint in their taproom in Boulder for every shirt sold.)  But for the most part, the designs held their own.  It was pretty cool.  We were hoping to just break even, but we ended up doing significantly better than that.  And considering we were selling at near retail cost in a wholesale, prices-slashed environment, that's not too shabby.  

BTW, if you guys have a Facebook page, you can friend us, or become a fan, or something like that.  Amy put one of our designs on as her profile pic for a while.  She started a trend because a number of other random people have done that as well.

Last thing.   Big props to Ryn and Cindy who crushed the San Jose marathon.  Ryn later told me that it was easy.  Show off.

I'm trying to convince Dan to let me put out some track jackets.  More on that in the next post.  But We'd like some honest feedback about the design.

Until next time.

out.

-wu