Is American Apparel Going Out of Business?
The Guardian published a disturbingly amusing article on American Apparel that begins with discussions of the founder Dov Charney and oral sex, masturbation, illegal immigrant labor, sexual harassment, socks worn in strange places, and boardroom underwear.
American Apparel has almost become a household name and one of the few remaining American made clothing companies. The company has been praised for great fashionable clothing and offering fair wages, healthcare, and free international phone calls during work hours. As with many companies in today’s economy they are facing lower sales and increased debt. American Apparel’s shares are at an all time low and the company is losing almost $30 million a year.
With the founder Dov Charney’s almost lunatic actions would it surprise you if American Apparel went bankrupt or will these antics just bring more press and sales? Seriously, this article has some hilarious quotes so go read it yourself and don’t forget to read some of the comments, those are quite amusing.
Trademark Battle: CustomizedGirl.com vs. CustomGlamGirl.com
CustomGlamGirl.com battles it out with ERetailing’s CustomizedGirl.com. CustomGlamGirl.com who also owns Takeouttees.com filed seven trademark infringement claims (E’Stephenie Inc. v. E Retailing Associates, LLC, et al. 1:04-cv-01235-LJM-WTL.). The claims include unfair competition, copyright interference with prospective economic advantage and unjust enrichment but all were rejected. Thee were no trademarks for CustomGlamGirl.com in the state of Indiana or federal system and no evidence for the widely used terms “custom,” “glam,” and “girl” . These battles actually begain in 2004 fairly close after CustomizedGirl.com opened around March 2004 (CustomGlamGirl.com opened around March 2003 a year prior)
You probably have seen them both advertising in US weekly and it was confusing about who was who. Their websites even looked similar and customized girl even tried to take advantage of the confusion somewhat by creating a page dedicated to comparing the sites. In the end though, the courts found no issue with the similarities in the branding of the two sites.
You can read more about the case at lifestyletom.
Major Competition to Cafepress and Zazzle Coming Soon
Hello, We need a clone of cafepress.com or zazzle.com with exact features. Please review the website before bidding. Please let us know if you already developed a similar website for someone before and have script available for sale… (Budget: $250-750, Jobs: ASP, Flash, PHP, SQL, Website Design)
A Google alert for Cafepress brought up this project on GetaFreelancer.com that has 15 bids with an average bid of $ 727.
I can’t decide which programmer I would choose if I was the project creator. Maybe this guy….
Hi, we are very interested.we have gone through wit the requirements you pasted in your description. We can easily do it with our expertise. we will provide your project with required language. we will provide you regular updates during progress, if we get this…. And also if you have any query please let us know. We are available for you all the time. Let’s work together. Regards Meena
or maybe if you like a programmer who is brief.
Demo will be provided within 30 days. Please feel free to leave me a message if you’ve any question. Thanks
but then again I am always looking for a true developer:
I can Provide this Service tou you. If you want to cooperate with a true developer, please give me a sign.Please Contact me on PMB. Thank you.
Watch out Cafepress and Zazzle, Shirtauctions is going to be a major player sooner than you think! with JUST $750!
Artist/Graphic Designer wanted…
I have no intention of ever paying you and I want to use you and then abdondon you and steal all your hard work .. and claim it as my own and then never ever ever pay you.. I am no better than a common street thug and will outsource anything that I want produced if I am not able to find an American to do the job. I will commonly ask you to steal art and you will get left holding the bag if anyone ever questions you about it etc.. Please submit your art for my T-Shirts that I sell and profit from.. I want ideas that you put your blood sweat and tears into that take you literally hours to complete .. please keep in mind I have NO intention of ever paying you and I will make the empty promise of “Sharing the profits”..
No, this isn’t my advertisement! I found this on Craigslist.org and almost peed my pants.
Busted Tees vs. Nerdy Shirts Web Site Design
Rude Retro has an interesting post about how NerdyShirts.com blatantly cloned Busted Tees web site design. In response to the cloned design, Busted Tees posted the following on their site.
Sometimes, we do not give enough credit to our behind the scenes team. Two of the most valuable team members we have are Amir Cohen and Zach Klein, who design our website. Lucky for us, a competitor of ours, NerdyShirts.com decided to honor Amir and Zach by copying our design for their t shirt selling website. If they “borrowed” our design, we only wonder where they borrowed their t shirt ideas from, because here at BustedTees, we do original work.
The problem we ran into with Nerdy Shirts taking our design is that Nerdy didn’t pay Amir and Zach for their work … but if someone uses their work, they have to get paid for it. Now, we could have called our lawyers and made a big deal about nerdy shirts but instead we decided run a sale on our original site, that we didn’t copy from anyone, on original shirts, that we didn’t copy from anybody, to make money to pay Amir and Zach for Nerdy Shirts using their work.
We also have our smoking-hot, original, BustedTees.com t shirt wearing models. They can’t copy our models … or come close enough to feed them. Support our originality, our models, and our designers, buy BustedTees.
You can compare them below. The only difference between the two sites are obviously the designs, the header background, the models and the t-shirt display but all core aspects of the site are a direct clone.
Do you think Busted Tees took the right action? Should they have taken legal action? Should they have done nothing? Post a comment!
Threadless Now Using Environmentally Friendly & Recyclable Shipping Bags
Threadless announced that they are now shipping their t-shirts in environmentally friendly shipping bags made from 25% recycled materials and they are recyclable.
The bags also have a very creative design that make it appear as if the bag is actually a folded shirt so the front just shows the collar and top shoulder part of the shirt. The back of the bag shows the back of what a folded t-shirt would look like.
For more information check out the Threadless blog. Once I receive one of the new bags I will add it to my list of the World’s Greatest T-Shirt Packaging.
You can also check out a video of the guys making a t-shirt out of the shipping bag.
DIY Threadless Shipping Bag Tee Shirt from Threadless.com on Vimeo.
Cafepress Adds Ecoconscious & American Apparel Organic T-Shirts
Cafepress announced yesterday that they are adding additional American Apparel organic t-shirts as well as others from Econscious. The Econscious t-shirts include a men’s and women’s t-shirt. New organic American Apparel shirts include the men’s fitted t-shirt, women’s fitted t-shirt, toddler t-shirt, kid t-shirt, baby t-shirt, and an baby bodysuit. Below are some of the facts about the t-shirts as supplied by Cafepress.
Econscious
* Garment washed, little to no shrinkage
* Enzyme washed for super soft vintage feel
* 100% organic combed ring-spun cotton
* Organic cotton/Spandex blend 1×1 neck rib
* Side-seam construction
* Quality construction, double needled seams
American Apparel
* Finished without the use of optical brighteners (bleach)
* Scoured for necessity to remove excess contaminants (dirt, natural waxes, oils)
* 4.3 oz. 100% ultra-fine combed organic ring-spun jersey
* Made in America (downtown Los Angeles)
Printfection Brags About Booming Revenue
Printfection posted on their blog today in a discussion that really amounted to bragging about their success in this very volatile economy. As we all know the current economy has left many companies and families struggling to make it to 2009. It is great to hear that in these troubled times that people are doing good but why boast? The post is centered around the POD world vs non-POD world and is suggesting that the POD industry is “rapidly gaining ground winning over new customers.“. Success is great and everyone loves a good story of rags to riches but when everyone is down is it appropriate to brag?
I find it interesting that they claim knowledge over all of the POD world. Previous statements have suggested that Printfection does $1-2 million a year which is great but compared to the larger players its really a drop in the POD bucket. I have often wondered at what size does your business have to be (in any industry) to be able to gauge how a particular industry is doing. Is it at 1, 5, 50, 100, 500 million a year.
I agree that the t-shirt business and POD is probably not hit as hard as other industries because our products are inexpensive and a reasonable alternative to expensive gifts. I can imagine that business is booming for most POD companies but I have wondered if at some point people perceive a $20 personalized t-shirt as too much. While I am not a die hard or regular shopper (or supporter) at Walmart I did have a recent experience that did shock me. Walmart was selling a wide variety of t-shirts for sale at $5-8 and it is nearly impossible to find a shirt for less than $15 (not even including shipping) at Cafepress, Zazzle or Printfection. Will people give up having a unique t-shirt to save a few bucks?
I believe it is the uniqueness that really makes a difference in what people are willing to spend for a t-shirt or other product. I remember as a kid picking out clothes at Mervyns and then showing up at school only to find out that one or more kids had the same clothes and t-shirts. It was awkward and frustrating but with today’s POD technology there is no reason to ever show up to school, work, or life wearing something someone else is wearing. People want to be unique and spending a few extra bucks for a different and fun shirt is worth it.
This is a random rant on my part but in today’s tough times something about the Printfection post just rubbed me the wrong way. I am sure their intentions were good talking about how it is important to grow and change as a company to be successful (AKA: do print on demand vs. screenprinting) but the underlying message was that they are doing well even when the rest of the country is struggling just comes across a little boasty to me.
Zazzle Launches Zazzle UK
Zazzle launched a UK version of their web site today. What does this mean for the UK?
1. More relevant creating and shopping experience for UK residents
2. Pounds Sterling with VAT and custom duties in the product price.
3. UK users will determine the most popular products through sales and rating tools.
4. General language changes in the site text.
As far as obvious changes there aren’t many yet. There are a variety of language changes including the use of “basket” instead of “cart” and other changes like the spelling of “Colour” vs “Color” and “Customise” vs. “Customize”, “Favourites” vs. “Favorites”…you get the point.
It appears that all U.S. and UK products will show in both versions of the web site but the difference that should show over time will be which designs sell, are considered “popular” or voted up. There isn’t much of a difference yet in the designs or how the homepage looks. The one obvious change is that the large banner for Obama has been changed to a UK specific design contest for £2500. The goal of the contest is to get designers to created more designs related to British humor, pop culture, sports, and history. It will be interesting to see who the judges are since Redwood City isn’t exactly the hub of British culture. Hopefully the contest will help build some designs to make the Zazzle UK site unique.
The shipping charges are surprisingly competitive at what is equal to less than $5 which is about standard for most U.S. t-shirt orders but it will take 7-14 days for this standard shipping method. You can check out all the Zazzle UK shipping options and charges.
For more information check out the Zazzle UK press release. the Zazzle Blog or visit Zazzle UK
Zazzle Updates Logo, Brand and Website
Zazzle updated their logo, homepage, and general brand yesterday. I previously criticized Zazzle for designing their site for SEO rather than user experience. The new homepage is much better and does take into consideration of user experience and directs users to many of the things that make Zazzle unique such as the custom shoes, licensed content and music related products.
The new look definitely matches their recent direction in deals and promotions with music industry and the addition of a wider range of content. A few years ago their site had a very family friendly appearance and they largely pushed the licensed content (see our post on Zazzle web site design history). The designs were definitely not as edgy as places like Cafepress. Following the Zazzle’s heavy recruiting baiting, and bribing of Cafepress shopkeepers much of the same content was soon available at both locations.
The new homepage is way more user friendly and very clear for users as to where they should go depending on their interest. The first two boxes are very clear with “Create” on the left, “Sell” in the middle, but on the right the image that says Infinite One of a Kind-ness ended up being a waste of space since it just goes to a page of blah blah when it should just go to the shopping page. The rest of the homepage really is a good blend of products and themes considering the breadth of the Zazzle market. As far as the new logo goes, I really did like their old one but the new one really does look a lot more “hip” and goes well with the dark site. I think the best part of the new logo is the Z inside the circle. The dark header with the simple white text really does make the designs pop out of the screen which is quite nice.
If you want to hear why Zazzle did the update you can visit the Zazzle Blog.
