Sunday, January 22, 2023
Why We Scrapped Our First Shirt Prototype? Product Test! Cheap! Cheap!
We are experimenting with our brand in an effort to offer a few clothing pieces for our customers and supporters. The polo mallets are our primary product but we may have some use for some complementary products such as a sweatshirt (hooded and unhooded), t-shirt, hat, saddle cushions, horse blankets and tote bags. Some of the items we will considering giving and donating away but a few might be listed on our site for customers to purchase.
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| The back logo we liked as an option. Its loud but it might be something someone wants. |
Because we are experimenting with pricing and quality we want to see if we could get at t-shirt in the $20+ range with our logo and colored emblem on the back. They looked ok except the front emblem looked generic when we put the graphics on the shirt. The back turned out great and that is excellent!
We then went to test it in the wash a few times and found out it was losing its shape. The quality was poor so the fibers distorted under water and heat. We don't want a poor reputation so we kept what worked (the back logo) and pitched the rest. We are now on the path of looking for higher quality shirts that could include either high quality print and/or embroidered logos.
In order for us to make a reasonable assessment we had to price out some of our options in terms of what a customer would pay. The prices in the graphs are ball park correct as to what they could be offered for with a reasonable profit. They are not specific and therefore don't use them as a guide for anything other then illustration purposes. Take a look at this pricing table for our Escanaba Polo Mallet slimmed down product analysis.
Based on our knowledge of our customer base and the need to maintain quality we are opting for a higher quality t-shirt. These will not be cheap shirts but they will maintain the brand image and likely will appeal to our customer base. We are not trying to be a mass producer or get into the clothing business. However, a few offerings like any other club is just fine.
Monday, January 2, 2023
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Escanaba Polo Gains Traction With Local Games
Polo isn't something that is akin to this area. Those living in the U.P. of Michigan are born western riders due to the sheer rural practicality. Polo was introduced a few years ago and is starting to take off! Not all the rules are followed perfectly, not everyone has the right saddles, and its Hodge podge in nature because everyone is learning and having fun.
As people become more interested it will be helpful to slowly start introducing additional rules of the game and core principles of play.
The mallets were donated by Escanaba Polo Mallet Co. We are donating two more mallets to ensure they have enough for robust play. When a mallet isn't up to our standards we remove it and try and find another use and in this case the small defects will not impact starting players so they now have a home. That way we keep them supplied and we support the game! That can only happen with customers like you! 💓
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Happy Holidays from Escanaba Polo Mallet Co.
Thank you everyone for being such great customers and we hope we can continue to contribute to polo in a meaningful way. We have sent out the last of our holiday orders and even made a few new discoveries to incorporate next year like wooden color heads, improved handles, self printing of items, and a better supply for bamboo (i.e. better supplier means less discarding shafts. We used to only get a few out of a bunch and now nearly all of them are good.).
As you celebrate the holiday season keep in mind the importance community. We support our communities and the growth of our communities and we encourage our customers to get out there and do good things for others by donating, volunteering and spreading holiday cheer.
Happy play and Happy Holidays!!!
Friday, December 23, 2022
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