Today we’d like to introduce you to Barry Lipsett.
Charles River Apparel, a family-owned business spanning three generations, started with a simple rain jacket in 1983. Walter Lipsett, founder, envisioned a clothing line rooted in the New England ideals of value and sold to well-known retailers like Nordstrom, Dillards and various independent retailers. When Barry Lipsett, Walter’s son and now owner/CEO, took over, he saw an opportunity to crossover into the promotional products industry expanding our reach and opening up doors to grow the brand. “Customers are more inclined to wear a logo’d piece of apparel if they feel good about what they’re wearing and we saw an opportunity to really change the industry by delivering fashion forward styles that customers would be proud to wear says Barry Lipsett.” Fast forward to 2017 and Charles River Apparel continues to design stylish and quality apparel for men, women, and children for both retail and promotional products. “Customers love to wear our product, with or without a logo continues Lipsett.”
Barry, please tell us more.
Recently honored as family business of the year for ASI and recognized in the January issue of O’ magazine as a favorite, Charles River Apparel continues to grow and gain market share in both retail and promotional products. One thing that we haven’t lost sight of is our local heritage and traditions which has guided us through the years to produce top apparel pieces capable of withstanding the toughest New England climates while making the most of everyday moments.
In addition to what we sell, we’ve also created a tradition of giving back through our Charles River Cares division. In 2017, we launched a new program, “Colors for a Cause”, which leveraged our number one selling style, the New Englander to raise funds and awareness for various charitable organizations. We are proud to have helped organizations that support families in need, rivers and oceans, families fighting cancer and kids in need.
Has it been a smooth road?
With any company you go through challenges and growing pains but through it all, we stayed true to our roots and focused on what made us different and unique. Our commitment to family and our heritage has steered us in the right direction and is what continues to guide us as we grow our business and brand.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Charles River Apparel story. Tell us more about the business.
We are so proud of where we started and how we have grown the brand. When Charles River Apparel started, it was with a rain jacket and our focus was on retail. After taking over, Barry Lipsett saw the promotional products industry as a way to grow and expand.
Why shouldn’t you be able to put your logo on something other than a polo or t-shirt. That shift in direction has served us well over the last 34 years but what’s most exciting is our growth in retail, “We’ve come full circle say Lipsett and now we have a healthy retail and promotional products business”.
What makes us unique and different is our ability to make decisions quickly and our focus on relationships. We are large enough to service big orders and small enough for our customers to know we care. We are humble by nature and know that in this day and age when consumers are shopping it’s about them, not us. We don’t logo our product, we don’t shout out our name on every block, we let our brand become our customers brand. When you put on a piece of Charles River Apparel is becomes yours. Whether you logo it, monogram it or leave it blank, it’s yours to style and show off who you are as a brand.
While we are proud of our growth and how far we’ve come as a brand, the ability to give back is what makes us the proudest as a family and company.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
What’s unique about our business is that we sell to both retail and promotional products, what’s exciting is how they cross over due to the trend in personalization.
Consumers are focused on who they are as a brand, they like to be unique and different and the idea of personalizing their apparel with their name, monogram or some form of artwork blends nicely with what we do. Monogram has become a great niche for us and continues to be an area we are focused on for growth. The influx of millennials in the work force has also been a big shift for the promotional products industry as buyers and employees are looking for apparel they can logo that’s a little more stylish and on trend.
Our line aligns nicely with this trend as we continue to design apparel that consumers want to wear and designed in a way that’s easy to add logos, artwork and monogrammed initials, to name a few.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1205 Providence Highway
Sharon, MA 02067 - Website: https://www.charlesriverapparel.com
- Phone: 800-225-0550
- Email: mkt@charlesriverapparel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlesriverapparel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlesriverapparel/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/charles_river?lang=en
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/42063/
Image Credit:
Tracy Aiguier (family picture)
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