Prom always creates demand for the strangest combinations in formal wear Ever since the 1994 release of Dumb and Dumber prom goers across the country have asked if they can look like Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels for prom! Everyone one thought the interest in this now almost 15 year old movie would go away, yet every year we are again asked by students if we have the dumb and dumber tuxedos??

If you were one of the smart guys who still have a few of the 70’s version of the Blue Blake around, it worked perfect for the blue. But never the orange. Disappointing that young customer even if he found something else to wear offered in your store always leaves that impression of not coming through 100%. We have a new exhibitor coming to Vegas to show off a solution to this problem. Yet, you can contact them today and still fill orders for this year!! Meet Brett Kane, he is in charge of the wholesale division of a young company called Bright Colored Tuxedos. I asked him a few questions about this venture and this is what he had to say. Read on and let us know what you think editor@formaltimes.com.  

Tell us a little about your key players who are involved in this project?
Brett Kane is the Marketing Manager for Bright Colored Tuxedos. He has been with the company for about 2 years and is extremely optimistic about the wholesale opportunities for this line. “I saw a great product and a large, consistent market that seemed to be missing the boat. We talked to a few good people in the industry and have decided to run with our idea. It has taken some time, but over the last year the wholesale side has been developed and we are happy to have it available for 2009.”

What is your background if any in formalwear? This is our first venture as a company into the wholesale formalwear industry.

How and when did this business start? www.brightcoloredtuxedos.com  has been operating for just over 2 years.

What is your product line? The name says it all. We carry a variety of bright colored tuxedos and accessories. Our tuxedos are a five piece set that includes jacket, pants, vest, shirt, and bowtie. We currently carry orange, blue, red, pink, purple, green and yellow. Top hats are available in orange, blue, red, and pink. Shoes, canes, and socks are available in all colors.

Are your expectations more in renting the garment to the consumer or selling to us? Our expectations are to get the product line into the mainstream tuxedo industry. We will continue to operate our website but my hope is that the retail stores will start to fulfill a majority of the demand.

What is the top seller at present? Orange. You can’t get any brighter than our orange tuxedo package.



What stock position are you in for most items? We are in excellent stock position for all of our products. We anticipate filling 100% of orders through the prom season.

What are your favortie ways to promote your product? I like talking first hand to the store owners. It gives me a chance to introduce myself and our products. By talking directly to the owners, I can identify the need and help them understand why their customers want bright colored tuxedos. We also mail out full color brochures and then of course our website.

What would be one thing you have available to sell right now we may not realize that you know kids would love to see for prom? Our whole line!! But our orange and blue cover more than 70% of our sales.

The sizing....... the tuxedos are currently sized in S-XXL. Each size covers about 3 jacket sizes; the pants have an adjustable waist that has a range of about 4 inches. Currently the tuxedos are sold in packages. So a medium tuxedo comes with jacket, pants, ruffled shirt, vest, and bowtie all in size medium.
 
-Before the formalwear show in Vegas, we will be changing to straight jacket sizing and all pieces will be available for purchase separately.

-Pricing. The tuxedos wholesale for $150 but we are offering 10% off to anyone who mentions the IFA or the article which gets them to $135. Accessories are......
-Wool Top Hat - $30
-Tuxedo Shoes - $20
-Cane - $10
-Socks - $4.99

Size Chest Waist Sleeve Length
Small 40" 28" - 32" 32 1/2"
Medium 44" 30" - 34" 34"
Large 46" 34" - 38" 35"
X-Large 48" 39" - 43" 35 1/2"
2X 52" 43" - 46 1/2" 36 1/2"
*Note: Measurements are of the actual item.

As far as the rest of the story..... basically we just started renting tuxedos online and found out very quickly after having orange and blue on our website that there was a very large demand. For the first two years we manufactured our own tuxedos and rented them and sold them on our website www.brightcoloredtuxedos.com.

We have seen so much volume online that we know we were missing a very large market of the retail/rental store owners. From the very beginning we would get calls from store owners, who had customers looking for these exact suits. Until now we didn't have the inventory or facilities to fulfill those wholesale customers. As I mentioned previously we are happy to now be taking wholesale orders and getting our tuxedos into the mainstream tuxedo market

A summary on your direction for the future. We plan on expanding the name recognition of our brand through continued marketing. We will keep talking to new formalwear companies about how we can fit into their business and help them increase their profits by offering customers a new, unique line of tuxedos and accessories. We plan on adding more colors and new styles by the end of the year.

We also hope to help our wholesale customers by increasing their business during slow seasons. These tuxedos are very popular for holidays like Halloween, Christmas, and St. Patricks Day. We will join the IFA and be exhibiting at Expo 28 in August.

Contact Brett today for more information:

Brett Kane
Marketing Manager
Bright Colored Tuxedos
507-386-8235

Prom always creates demand for the strangest combinations in formal wear Ever since the 1994 release of Dumb and Dumber prom goers across the country have asked if they can look like Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels for prom! Everyone one thought the interest in this now almost 15 year old movie would go away, yet every year we are again asked by students if we have the dumb and dumber tuxedos??

If you were one of the smart guys who still have a few of the 70’s version of the Blue Blake around, it worked perfect for the blue. But never the orange. Disappointing that young customer even if he found something else to wear offered in your store always leaves that impression of not coming through 100%. We have a new exhibitor coming to Vegas to show off a solution to this problem. Yet, you can contact them today and still fill orders for this year!! Meet Brett Kane, he is in charge of the wholesale division of a young company called Bright Colored Tuxedos. I asked him a few questions about this venture and this is what he had to say. Read on and let us know what you think editor@formaltimes.com.  

Tell us a little about your key players who are involved in this project?
Brett Kane is the Marketing Manager for Bright Colored Tuxedos. He has been with the company for about 2 years and is extremely optimistic about the wholesale opportunities for this line. “I saw a great product and a large, consistent market that seemed to be missing the boat. We talked to a few good people in the industry and have decided to run with our idea. It has taken some time, but over the last year the wholesale side has been developed and we are happy to have it available for 2009.”

What is your background if any in formalwear? This is our first venture as a company into the wholesale formalwear industry.

How and when did this business start? www.brightcoloredtuxedos.com  has been operating for just over 2 years.

What is your product line? The name says it all. We carry a variety of bright colored tuxedos and accessories. Our tuxedos are a five piece set that includes jacket, pants, vest, shirt, and bowtie. We currently carry orange, blue, red, pink, purple, green and yellow. Top hats are available in orange, blue, red, and pink. Shoes, canes, and socks are available in all colors.

Are your expectations more in renting the garment to the consumer or selling to us? Our expectations are to get the product line into the mainstream tuxedo industry. We will continue to operate our website but my hope is that the retail stores will start to fulfill a majority of the demand.

What is the top seller at present? Orange. You can’t get any brighter than our orange tuxedo package.



What stock position are you in for most items? We are in excellent stock position for all of our products. We anticipate filling 100% of orders through the prom season.

What are your favortie ways to promote your product? I like talking first hand to the store owners. It gives me a chance to introduce myself and our products. By talking directly to the owners, I can identify the need and help them understand why their customers want bright colored tuxedos. We also mail out full color brochures and then of course our website.

What would be one thing you have available to sell right now we may not realize that you know kids would love to see for prom? Our whole line!! But our orange and blue cover more than 70% of our sales.

The sizing....... the tuxedos are currently sized in S-XXL. Each size covers about 3 jacket sizes; the pants have an adjustable waist that has a range of about 4 inches. Currently the tuxedos are sold in packages. So a medium tuxedo comes with jacket, pants, ruffled shirt, vest, and bowtie all in size medium.
 
-Before the formalwear show in Vegas, we will be changing to straight jacket sizing and all pieces will be available for purchase separately.

-Pricing. The tuxedos wholesale for $150 but we are offering 10% off to anyone who mentions the IFA or the article which gets them to $135. Accessories are......
-Wool Top Hat - $30
-Tuxedo Shoes - $20
-Cane - $10
-Socks - $4.99

Size Chest Waist Sleeve Length
Small 40" 28" - 32" 32 1/2"
Medium 44" 30" - 34" 34"
Large 46" 34" - 38" 35"
X-Large 48" 39" - 43" 35 1/2"
2X 52" 43" - 46 1/2" 36 1/2"
*Note: Measurements are of the actual item.

As far as the rest of the story..... basically we just started renting tuxedos online and found out very quickly after having orange and blue on our website that there was a very large demand. For the first two years we manufactured our own tuxedos and rented them and sold them on our website www.brightcoloredtuxedos.com.

We have seen so much volume online that we know we were missing a very large market of the retail/rental store owners. From the very beginning we would get calls from store owners, who had customers looking for these exact suits. Until now we didn't have the inventory or facilities to fulfill those wholesale customers. As I mentioned previously we are happy to now be taking wholesale orders and getting our tuxedos into the mainstream tuxedo market

A summary on your direction for the future. We plan on expanding the name recognition of our brand through continued marketing. We will keep talking to new formalwear companies about how we can fit into their business and help them increase their profits by offering customers a new, unique line of tuxedos and accessories. We plan on adding more colors and new styles by the end of the year.

We also hope to help our wholesale customers by increasing their business during slow seasons. These tuxedos are very popular for holidays like Halloween, Christmas, and St. Patricks Day. We will join the IFA and be exhibiting at Expo 28 in August.

Contact Brett today for more information:

Brett Kane
Marketing Manager
Bright Colored Tuxedos
507-386-8235

By Barbara Wold

Apply these service secrets to your customers' experience and you will increase customer satisfaction, customer
retention and win back customers to increase your bottom line.

Start with a Positive Attitude – Look at any customer service situation as a challenge and an opportunity to learn,
grow and take care of the customer's needs. Start with a positive attitude that says, "I want to help you and together,
we will find a solution."

Listen with Empathy – Put yourself in the customer's shoes, experience his/her pain and communicate to the
customer you understand the pain. You can communicate your understanding of their pain by saying, "Thank you for
sharing your concerns with me. If I were in your shoes, I would feel the same way."

Take Ownership – Don't make excuses for what happened with the customer. Apologize and take ownership for what happened. The sooner you take ownership of the customer service challenge, the sooner you can take ownership of the customer service solutions.

Communicate Your Plan of Action – Let the customer know what you are willing to do to take care of his/her
concerns. The customer becomes frustrated when he/she feels uninvolved or uncertain as to what you are planning for the solution. Ask for the customers' commitment to the plan before proceeding with the action.

Take Action – The most important customer service secret is taking action. You can go through all the other customer service secrets and if you don’t take action, all your actions and credibility are lost. You increase customer retention when you make sure you deliver more than what is promised. Act quickly, act with a quality solution and act with integrity.

Ask for the Business – Let the customer know that you don’t take his/her business for granted. It’s even more
important that you express to the customer that you would like his/her business. You can also give an extra incentive to the customer for acting now to continue giving you the business. It can be as simple as a discount coupon or some other special offering.

Copyright 2009. Reprinted with permission from Barbara Wold's Retail & Consumer Tips, bwold@ix.netcom.com.

By Barbara Wold

Apply these service secrets to your customers' experience and you will increase customer satisfaction, customer
retention and win back customers to increase your bottom line.

Start with a Positive Attitude – Look at any customer service situation as a challenge and an opportunity to learn,
grow and take care of the customer's needs. Start with a positive attitude that says, "I want to help you and together,
we will find a solution."

Listen with Empathy – Put yourself in the customer's shoes, experience his/her pain and communicate to the
customer you understand the pain. You can communicate your understanding of their pain by saying, "Thank you for
sharing your concerns with me. If I were in your shoes, I would feel the same way."

Take Ownership – Don't make excuses for what happened with the customer. Apologize and take ownership for what happened. The sooner you take ownership of the customer service challenge, the sooner you can take ownership of the customer service solutions.

Communicate Your Plan of Action – Let the customer know what you are willing to do to take care of his/her
concerns. The customer becomes frustrated when he/she feels uninvolved or uncertain as to what you are planning for the solution. Ask for the customers' commitment to the plan before proceeding with the action.

Take Action – The most important customer service secret is taking action. You can go through all the other customer service secrets and if you don’t take action, all your actions and credibility are lost. You increase customer retention when you make sure you deliver more than what is promised. Act quickly, act with a quality solution and act with integrity.

Ask for the Business – Let the customer know that you don’t take his/her business for granted. It’s even more
important that you express to the customer that you would like his/her business. You can also give an extra incentive to the customer for acting now to continue giving you the business. It can be as simple as a discount coupon or some other special offering.

Copyright 2009. Reprinted with permission from Barbara Wold's Retail & Consumer Tips, bwold@ix.netcom.com.

I asked the manufacturers about stock position and hot sellers for prom here are their answers:

Formalwear International reports:
In April we will have in Inventory the IFA '08' Award Winning White Illusion and the Black Illusion. Also we will have The White Savoy (Notch) with the Black Edge and the Black Savoy (Notch) with the Black Edge. These are the Styles that have been most requested by the Prom Kids this year. In addition we always have our Basic Line of Tuxedos which include the White 2 Button Notch Mystique and matching pants.

Peter Aleman
Director of Customer Service
Formalwear International
6604 Northwest 82nd Avenue
Miami, Fl. 33166

After Six reports good stock position and special pricing on packaged formal shirts, the White LaStrada, and contemporary classic coats they stated you should call your local sales rep for information or customer service at 800-554-8212 or visit www.aftersix.com.

Fredrico Leone reports: This year's big shoe is our Jean Yves Cosmopolitan. It is the fashion upgrade from the basic plain toe combining an updated toe character with outstanding pattern design. Biggest surprise has been retailer and consumer response to our Black & White combination.Black & White clothing is strong now, from runway to Main St. It's an iconic fashion statement the young market is responding to.

Cosmopolitan is available seven different ways; Black, White, Ivory, Grey, Choclate, Choclate/Latte and Black/White.

Brian SharpMarketing Director, Frederico Leone LTD

Ascot reports:
Whisper White - Excellent Luxe Micro Pleat 1/4" white – poor to average Whisper Black - Excellent Luxe Micro Pleat 1/4" ivory -
Whisper Ivory - Excellent
Luxe Micro Pleat 1/2" white – Excellent
Bob White - Excellent
Luxe Micro Pleat 1/2" ivory - Excellent
Bob Black - Excellent
Bob Ivory - Excellent
Nova White - Almost Sold Out
Bob Brown - Excellent
Nova Black -Good
Bob Champagne- Good
Nova Ivory - Slightly less than average
Bob Grey - Good
Nova Brown - Excellent
Glen White - Good Eclipse White - good
Glen Ivory - Average Eclipse Black - good
Eclipse Ivory - good

Bob Milam
VP Ascot LLC
615-373-2040
615-400-4202 cell
615-373-5265 fax


CSS Trading Co., Inc. is happy to announce that we are in good stock positions in both our Denver and Atlanta Warehouse locations in all colors of microfiber shirts: Black, White and Ivory. We are also in a very good stock position in our extremely successful Satin Reserve Accessory Collection. Our new "Radar" Accessory Collection has already been shipped to our customers and reports are coming in that this Program is a definite winner. Please call and place your orders for microfiber shirts, accessories, and all your formal wear needs. We are here to better serve You, "Our valued Customers."

Coming soon new programs to coordinate with Satin Reserve and Radar Collections!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stay Tuned.........................

Respectfully,

Joseph Sgro
Vice President , Marketing and Merchandising
CSS Trading Company
15580 E. Hinsdale Circle
Englewood,Colorado 80112
Tel 800.422.1229
Fax 800.830.4125
Cell 410.852.9274
e-mail jstux49@comcast.net 

Manufacturers send your information regarding stock position to be published in the next edition to editor@formaltimes.com.  

I asked the manufacturers about stock position and hot sellers for prom here are their answers:

Formalwear International reports:
In April we will have in Inventory the IFA '08' Award Winning White Illusion and the Black Illusion. Also we will have The White Savoy (Notch) with the Black Edge and the Black Savoy (Notch) with the Black Edge. These are the Styles that have been most requested by the Prom Kids this year. In addition we always have our Basic Line of Tuxedos which include the White 2 Button Notch Mystique and matching pants.

Peter Aleman
Director of Customer Service
Formalwear International
6604 Northwest 82nd Avenue
Miami, Fl. 33166

After Six reports good stock position and special pricing on packaged formal shirts, the White LaStrada, and contemporary classic coats they stated you should call your local sales rep for information or customer service at 800-554-8212 or visit www.aftersix.com.

Fredrico Leone reports: This year's big shoe is our Jean Yves Cosmopolitan. It is the fashion upgrade from the basic plain toe combining an updated toe character with outstanding pattern design. Biggest surprise has been retailer and consumer response to our Black & White combination.Black & White clothing is strong now, from runway to Main St. It's an iconic fashion statement the young market is responding to.

Cosmopolitan is available seven different ways; Black, White, Ivory, Grey, Choclate, Choclate/Latte and Black/White.

Brian SharpMarketing Director, Frederico Leone LTD

Ascot reports:
Whisper White - Excellent Luxe Micro Pleat 1/4" white – poor to average Whisper Black - Excellent Luxe Micro Pleat 1/4" ivory -
Whisper Ivory - Excellent
Luxe Micro Pleat 1/2" white – Excellent
Bob White - Excellent
Luxe Micro Pleat 1/2" ivory - Excellent
Bob Black - Excellent
Bob Ivory - Excellent
Nova White - Almost Sold Out
Bob Brown - Excellent
Nova Black -Good
Bob Champagne- Good
Nova Ivory - Slightly less than average
Bob Grey - Good
Nova Brown - Excellent
Glen White - Good Eclipse White - good
Glen Ivory - Average Eclipse Black - good
Eclipse Ivory - good

Bob Milam
VP Ascot LLC
615-373-2040
615-400-4202 cell
615-373-5265 fax


CSS Trading Co., Inc. is happy to announce that we are in good stock positions in both our Denver and Atlanta Warehouse locations in all colors of microfiber shirts: Black, White and Ivory. We are also in a very good stock position in our extremely successful Satin Reserve Accessory Collection. Our new "Radar" Accessory Collection has already been shipped to our customers and reports are coming in that this Program is a definite winner. Please call and place your orders for microfiber shirts, accessories, and all your formal wear needs. We are here to better serve You, "Our valued Customers."

Coming soon new programs to coordinate with Satin Reserve and Radar Collections!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stay Tuned.........................

Respectfully,

Joseph Sgro
Vice President , Marketing and Merchandising
CSS Trading Company
15580 E. Hinsdale Circle
Englewood,Colorado 80112
Tel 800.422.1229
Fax 800.830.4125
Cell 410.852.9274
e-mail jstux49@comcast.net 

Manufacturers send your information regarding stock position to be published in the next edition to editor@formaltimes.com.  

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.” ~Jim Rohn~

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” ~Denis Waitley~

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.” ~Jim Rohn~

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” ~Denis Waitley~

The opinions expressed by the authors do not reflect necessarily of the Association of  International Formalwear, its officials, directors or personnel. Each author is the unique person in charge of her or his content.

The opinions expressed by the authors do not reflect necessarily of the Association of  International Formalwear, its officials, directors or personnel. Each author is the unique person in charge of her or his content.