These companies waiting to fit you to a T
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
The national shutdown of sports because of the coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on businesses, even at the youth level. Companies that produce uniforms and trophies for youth leagues are caught in a waiting game.
Courtesy of Davis Slagle
Davis Slagle models a T-shirt BeeGraphix of Fredericktown is selling to help his laid-off workers and small businesses that were closed because of COVID-19.
The baseball and softball fields in the area have a sparkling shade of green grass, some mowed and manicured to game-ready condition. All that is missing are kids wearing colorful uniforms emblazoned with names of local businesses, civic organizations or nicknames of professional teams.
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down the sports world, from the professional ranks to the colleges and on down to the club, rec and youth leagues, leaving the playing fields empty.
That’s bad news for people such as Zach Storf and Davis Slagle. Their jobs are to make sure that when the athletes return to the diamonds and playing fields, they will have jerseys adorned with their favorite number and the name of the team sponsor. And if the leagues do not play this spring and summer, then there are no championship trophies for people such as Jeff Bainer to supply.
“This is typically our busiest time of year,” said Storf, who along with his father, Tom Strof, operates Fanatic Impressions in Washington. The business has grown significantly over the past year and supplies jerseys to about a dozen leagues throughout the area, including Washington Youth Baseball.
These days, the equipment at Fanatic Impressions is silent. The business is basically shut down during the pandemic.
“We would be working 12-hour days from mid-March to the end of April. We’re working regular hours but it is for product purposes. We’re not open to the public unless it would be something like a curbside pickup. We’re still taking orders by phone or email.”
Storf said some youth leagues placed orders for uniforms early but many are still waiting to see if a baseball or softball season will even be played. PONY Baseball and Softball Inc., has put league activities on hold for all its organizations around the globe until at least May 1. American Legion Baseball has canceled its world series and regional tournaments.
“We had some organizations place orders in late February. The majority of those are completed,” Storf said. “But since the outbreak advanced in mid-March, we’ve seen that some leagues are hesitant to place orders. We’re in constant contact with our vendors, so the best advice we can give is to get your orders to us so that we can get the clothing. Once this virus slows down and regulations are loosened, there is going to be a mad rush to get orders done. If we can get a week of prep work done on an order now, then that’s going to save time later.”
Slagle, who operates BeeGraphix, which has locations in Fredericktown, Waynesburg and Belle Vernon, can relate to Storf’s situation. Slagle had to close and lay off his employees following Gov. Tom Wolf’s March 19 order to shutter nonessential businesses.
The timing of the governor’s order couldn’t be worse for Slagle or anybody who works in sporting goods. This is typically a time of year when he has to hire part-time employees to help fill the demand from teams for uniforms. BeeGraphix annually fills orders for between 100 and 200 teams during the spring.
“This is our second-busiest time of year,” Slagle said. “The busiest is when three kids go back to school.
“The majority of the leagues and teams we deal with have put in orders but we have stopped them. The hats are done but the shirts are sitting here blank.
“This is having a major impact,” he continued. “Our suppliers, they can’t get the uniforms to us. They are shut down across the nation.”
But what happens when, or if, restrictions are lifted and sports return this spring or summer? Teams will need uniforms and they’ll need them quickly.
“All hell will break loose,” Slagle says with a laugh. “We’ll be working a shift-and-a-half or double shifts for a couple of weeks. We’ll probably have to rely on independent contractors to get some of the work done.”
Diversification has continued to provide some business for BeeGraphix and Fanatic Impressions. For example, BeeGraphix can make yard signs for graduating seniors. It also is offering T-shirts bearing the message, “SMALL TOWNS BIG HEARTS,” for $24 each, with $5 of the price going into a pot for Slagle’s workers and $10 to small businesses that sign up for the promotion. By the beginning of April, the number of businesses that had signed on was approaching 100. As many as 300 T-shirt orders were received over a five-day period.
“We’re preparing so that when we open up, we can be even stronger than before,” Slagle said, “but the smaller shops are going to have some trouble if they have debt to their suppliers.”
Storf said Fanatic Impressions is trying to help schools overcome the loss of revenue from fundraisers that have been or will be canceled.
“This definitely has been impactful. It has us changing our focus,” he said. “We’ve reached out to organizations about online fundraising. We understand they lost fundraisers like golf outings and cash bashes. We’re reaching out with spirit-wear fundraisers to soften the blow.
“This is a fluid situation. It’s changing day-by-day. One day things are looking good and the next the sky is falling. We’re staying as optimistic as possible and moving forward with the assumption that sports are going to be played.”
If spring and summer sports do not return, then that will be a crushing blow to trophy shops. Bainer, who typically is one of the busiest men in Washington during the spring, operates The Trophy Zone.
“The awards business, there is nothing right now,” Bainer said. “That’s not unusual because wrestling season has wrapped up and baseball doesn’t happen until the middle or end of May.”
Bainer also runs Washington Youth Baseball’s Mustang League. That was supposed to start April 18 but is in a holding pattern. He also umpires about 20 high school baseball games each spring. The PIAA announced Thursday that its spring sports seasons have been canceled.
Add a full-time job at Ensinger in Washington and Bainer used to have a full schedule in the spring. Now, he’s down to only his Ensinger duties.
“There a trickledown effect with (the pandemic),” Bainer said. “I’m definitely impacted. It’s good that trophies aren’t my primary job; it’s on the side. But I think we’re all ready to get outside and get back to normal.”