hi PBC!
On behalf of the Brand Merchandise Committee, last year we announced surveying the membership to gain a better appreciation of PBC embellished swag might be of interest in everyone's PBC wardrobe. Since 2020 more than ever we are all constantly adjusting to the daily challenges stemming from the pandemic. From this committee the largest challenge has been and continues to be a disrupted and overburdened supply chain, this affects materials such as fabrics, other components of a garment like a button or zipper generally obtained by manufacturers thru various distributors. Ultimately making or fabricating a garment or particular good(s) has many steps before getting to production, to fabrication, and to market. Additionally actual worker production is still affect by COVID absences. Given all these factors we have learned alot and are attempting to simplify where reasonable a better process for offering and procuring PBC embellished items. Please stay tuned!
Looking to the future our committee is positioning to remove most of the on-site inventory and migrate to an e-commerce platform. Further R&D will need to occur before making it official. The goal is provide more variety of swag and your feedback is important to our step towards offering a complimentary range of items. We also want to respect our landfills and encourage re-purposing or donating unused or gently used gear where it makes sense to do so. Our primary vendors for uniforms, Boathouse Sports and JLRacing will still be offered in a team store platform. Lands End (garments & totebag) and StudioBurke DC (pewterware) continue to offer items for PBC membership.
Please welcome Chris Dopita,cdopita@icloud.com, he is the committee volunteer taking the lead in implementing and distributing a survey to the membership and collecting feedback and anything else we have not thought of yet. A reporting of the results will occur later in the year. Please look for his e-correspondence.
I personally want to thank all of you for your continued patience with this committee. Often times it appears as though we are moving at a snails pace and what is actually occurring is a mindfully approach to prioritizing gear requests for the club. Please look forward to the rebuild of the PBC embellished gear and other swag.
thank you, enjoy your summer!
sylvia
PBC Brand Merchandise Committee Chair