Bob Strem, president of footwear supplier Neet Feet (asi/73520) in Newbury Park, CA, recently spoke with ASI about officially joining forces with St. Louis-based athletic products supplier Big Time Jersey and blanket supplier Kanata Blanket in Richmond, BC, and what it means for the three firms, and the industry, moving forward.

Q: How did the deal between Neet Feet, Kanata Blanket and Big Time Jersey come about?
Bob Strem: Neet Feet and Kanata used to be part of Pro Towels (asi/79750), and we worked with Big Time Jersey on this deal for about nine or 10 months. Everyone played a part in the agreement. It’s mutually beneficial – it’s a win-win for Pro Towels and for us. Pro Towels used to do some distribution on behalf of Big Time Jersey, and Big Time Jersey’s management was interested in going their own direction with it. We saw an opportunity here, and the three organizations decided to join forces – we’re all committed to deep inventory, incredible customer service, quick shipping and five-day delivery. We’ll keep our three respective brands, but now we’re under one umbrella. I’ve been in this industry since 1982. So many times I considered retiring, but I’ve just kept going.

Q: How does this new relationship benefit the three organizations?
BS: Big Time Jersey does mostly jersey-shaped rally towels and banners, but we’ll be expanding on that with sublimated blankets, as well as rally, beach, hand and cooling towels, from all over the world. The St. Louis location will be where we do our sublimation, with the capability to do 40,000 towels in 24 hours, at affordable prices. Kanata has always been a leader in its space with high-quality blankets. Winter’s been their most popular season, but now we’re bringing in year-round products with great decoration and packaging. Neet Feet is a growing company that hasn’t hit its stride yet. We have a great future in fun flip-flops, sliders and slippers. They make great promotional products and they put smiles on people’s faces. We’ll be offering retail-inspired flip-flops at a fraction of the cost, and we’ll soon have full custom pairs. Combining flip-flops, blankets and towels just made sense.

The Challenger Lambswool Throw from Kanata Blanket is made of faux lambswool and micro-fur and comes in seven colors.

Q: Where will the brands be located in North America?
BS: All three will maintain their current locations, but we’ll be centralizing at Big Time Jersey in St. Louis so that orders will arrive anywhere in the U.S. and Canada in about two days. We’ll also be offering sublimation, embroidery and laser there. Our goal is to have a system where clients upload their artwork and have finished towels in their hands in three days. That’s the future of this industry. Also, all staff will remain the same, including Kanata President Fraser Mackay and Big Time Jersey owner Joe Anderson.

This officially licensed Toronto FC jersey-shaped banner from Big Time Jersey has crisp, detailed dye sublimation.

Q: How have you been servicing the industry during COVID-19?
BS: We’ve pivoted to making sublimated masks, which is going along very well. We have kids and adult sizes, made domestically, and we’re putting schools’ logos on them. We’ve also been doing flip-flops and slippers for work-from-home needs. We’re here to make sure people are taken care of.

These slider sandals (HYDROM) have an EVA sole, full toe lift, arch support and non-slip bottom.