Summer sale and new Keith tees!
6.30.2009
Hooray for summer! The time for beach outings, picnics, and, of course, a new closet-full of tshirts! Fortunately for you, it'll be a bit cheaper this time around due to a little summer sale I'm throwing for the month of July. So head on over to The LF Shop and grab some gear while it lasts! Believe it or not, I'm down to as few as 7 designs in certain sizes, so strike while the season's hot. Hey-oh!
As for the July offering, I'm happy to be re-releasing the popular Keith designs from last summer. This time around they're on purple and blue AA tees and are super comfy as always. The print is really soft, too, so you won't have to fret about sweating under the design...
posted by Mr. Linty @ 11:04 PM,
,
The Linty Fresh Webwide Hunt!
6.14.2009
So if you follow my Twitter you may have noticed a little tweet about an upcoming Linty Fresh game to be held tomorrow, Monday, June 15. It'll be hosted via twitter, so if you'd like to participate, be sure to follow me. I promise I'm not one of those people that tweet every five minutes. Honest!
I'm calling the game "The Linty Fresh Webwide Hunt", and basically it's an online scavenger hunt. Each clue will require participants to do a bit of web browsing, be it Google image searching, YouTube scouring, Wikipedia digging, and other general online meandering. The game will last for most of the day, with clues coming at random times, so if you're on your computer at any time tomorrow, you'll have a shot at scoring some points.
Points will be awarded to the first person to correctly respond to a clue by tweeting it with "@lintyfresh" at the end of the tweet. Points earned correlate to a percentage discounted in my shop at the end of the game. In other words, if a player earns a total of 10 points, I will provide them a 10% coupon for use in my store. To protect myself from someone getting 100 points and then getting my entire stock for free, there will be a $100 limit on orders purchased with game coupons.
And yes, if you score 80 points in tomorrow's game, you can walk away with $100 worth of LF gear for 20 bucks. Pretty sweet, eh?
So be sure to tune into the Linty Fresh Twitter tomorrow and try your web skills in this kickin' online community game!
posted by Mr. Linty @ 10:55 PM,
,
Feelin' the stress
I feel like all the relaxation of the last 3 months has been quickly reversed in just 3 weeks since being back. It feels like this spring in my chest that's being wound a little tighter every day, and it's the worst!
Part of it, of course, is all this travel. just got in from New York (a weekend of 1800 driven miles), and in two days I fly out to California to see some relatives. Since news of my plans to move back got around, a lot of family wants to see me before the summer's out. All this travel means that I still have clumps of luggage that I haven't opened since my return from China, which makes me feel unsettled and annoyed. I work well when things are organized and neat, and having to rummage through piles of stuff is really annoying to me.
The good news (for me, anyhow), is that a lot of stock is moving this summer, which means that I can focus on a few new releases before I leave in late August. The unfortunate side of this is that I'm running out of a lot of sizes, specifically guys' smalls and mediums. Same goes for belts, of which I only have 1 or 2 in most styles. So, hopefully some new belts this summer too, but no promises.
Starting production in China means that I'm having to figure out the balance of financing production on two fronts. The current plan is to have the Chinese Linty Fresh website up and running in July (which means some income on that end). But until then, LF USA is paying for all the operations there. Ahh, the headaches of going international.
As for China, the fabrics for my first line are finished, so now it's a matter of me seeing some samples to confirm the colors and quality. Next, using my measurements, they'll sew up a spread of sample blank tees for me to wear and wash. I'll have to make sure the fit is right (measured to my current line here in the US) and the collar isn't too tight, etc etc. Finally we'll move on to the printing, tagging, and bagging stages. It's a lot to get done in just a few weeks, but if there are any delays with our timeframe, it'll be the fault of the postal system, not me or the factory. Countdown!
posted by Mr. Linty @ 9:50 AM,
,
Back from Brooklyn
6.09.2009
Whew. What a crazy week it's been.
Last Thursday morning, at 6AM, Vincent and I hopped in the van and embarked on the long drive up to Brooklyn, New York, from Marietta Georgia. We were scheduled to stay at a hotel/apartment on the South side (Chinatown, incidentally) of the city that night, so were pretty determined to get there as soon as possible, making only the 3 or 4 absolutely necessary stops along the way. At 10PM, we made it, making the whole 900-mile trip about 16 hours. Not bad!
After checking in and taking a few moments to enjoy the luxury of laying down, we realized how hungry we were and went looking for food. We found a Chinese restaurant just around the corner, and it felt really great to be able to use my Chinese again. Although I didn't feel at first like the 3 months in China did a whole lot for my language skills, it's become certain that my comprehension and basic communication speed has increased a good bit, which is hugely encouraging since I don't consider myself to be all that great with foreign languages.
Then we went home, had some beer, and crashed. Friday was just a rest day and a bit of exploration, but when the weekend finally rolled around, it was time to get to work. That meant driving to McCarren park, finding our spot in the labyrinth of booths, parking, unpacking, and setting up. All told, it took the full 3 hours to get settled in and ready for business, which began promptly at 11AM.
Unfortunately, I have to say that I wasn't too impressed with how I did that first day. Although the crowd was steady, it seemed like there were more browsers than buyers, and a lot of people were clearly looking for bargain purchases. Although I still made more than enough to cover my expenses and make it all worth my while, it wasn't exactly the business boom I was hoping for. But what made up for all that, as always, was the people.
Included in the people were folks like Kyle Crawford, the owner of Electric Zombie (the guy I poke fun at in my first Vimeo video), Rob Dobi, the founder and artist behind Fullbleed, and Ray Masaki, the guy from Lowdtown, another clothing line. Aside from them, there were a handful of other reputable designers and illustrators that came by the booth to introduce themselves and say hi. It was awesome to get that kind of welcome. So if you guys are reading this, thanks!
And in addition to those folks, there were other vendors there like the mighty David Murray of Seibei, the trio of John, Mike, and Justin of Fuzzy Ink, and the incredibly inventive Jon Wye. At the end of the first day, Vincent and I went out to eat with the Fuzzy Ink guys and Jon Wye and his apprentice, Jeff. It was great to relax a bit, talk business, and strategize for the next day.
As it turned out, the second day was a lot better for me. I'm not sure exactly what the reason behind this was, but the sales were much more constant, and at the end of the weekend, I was satisfied. Not thrilled, but not disappointed. We packed up, crashed hard, and headed out on Monday for Raleigh. Vince had friends there with couches and floorspace, so we crashed there for the night and finished the final 6 hours today.
All these shows and events are really taking a toll on my energy, and it kind of feels like I'm making up for all the work I didn't do while I was cruising for 3 months in China. In any case, it's pretty cool to be able to see so much of the country before going back for good, and the summer always lends itself to travel. Now for a few days of rest before I visit family out in Cali... Time to sleep for like 17 hours or so. G'night.
posted by Mr. Linty @ 10:48 PM,
,
You've probably noticed...
6.02.2009
Yeah, so... No tee this month. Apologies! I was supposed to have a special new product out for this month, but it got held up and I'm still waiting on it... Aside from that, things have been a little hectic dealing with both the upcoming show I have in Brooklyn and the back-and-forth with China. Last night I was on a business call with my translator/adviser for a couple of hours sending files back and forth and trying to figure out what the heck an .SHS file is. I'm super thankful to have the help, though. I know for a certainty that if I didn't have this particular contact, I'd probably let this opportunity slip by. If all pans out, I'll likely be hiring her full time as a secretary/personal assistant. She's excellent at chasing down information and getting things done, and has an uncanny sense for business and marketing.
Case in point: last week while trying to come up with a Chinese transliteration for "Linty Fresh", she sent me a mini report which included a bunch of insights into the Chinese language and the following suggestions:
1. 灵T匪思 (ling2 T fei3 si1): I decided to use alphabet T in the name. I think it is funny and everyone can read T and know it means Tees. 灵T means smart, active and bright Tees. 匪思 is from a Chinese ChengYu 匪夷所思， means fantastic and unimaginably unique.
2. 灵T斐思 (ling2 T fei3 si1)The last part is changed, 斐 means colorful and brilliant, so斐思 means colorful and brilliant ideas or thinking.
3. 灵T斐世 (ling2 T fei3 shi4) The last part is changed, which is more close to the pronunciation ‘Fresh’. 世 means the world, so the whole image of the name mentions the awesome tees will be brilliant in the world.
I went with option 2. Keep your eyes peeled and you should see it start popping up as I catalog the adaptations I'll be making for Linty Fresh in China...
So the show this past weekend: good, and gratifying, but a little strange for me in certain respects. I mean, I guess it's natural that as the brand grows, the site and this blog also grow in popularity and readership; still, it was funny to have people come up and mention specific details about my life, or me, or ask how China was. My mind would reel for a second with, "Huh? How the heck did..." and then the "Oh right, I broadcast every detail of my life through Twitter and my blog" realization. Oh yah, the internet. Huh.It's great to see all the hard work paying off though. Seeing repeat faces, or hearing about how a certain customer always got compliments on his LF gear is something that never gets old, and genuinely feels good. Of course, a lot of this is due to me being based here in Atlanta, and having done a few local shows. New York should be interesting. Although a lot of tees go there, it'll be the first time I'm showing in person.
Either way, I'm looking forward to it. My friend Vincent will be tagging along and helping out with the show. If you watched my 3rd LF chat you'll know him as the web guru friend that cohosted with me. Should be good times.
posted by Mr. Linty @ 10:17 PM,
,
