Ship John
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Kind of a side rant/curiosity, but how sustainable is a business model that relies mostly on drops with a very limited amount of products on hand? It seems to me that, God forbid a big slowdown happens, a business like this would have a really hard time surviving(at least in its current form). I say that as a small business owner myself, with very little overhead something I designed intentionally after the hell I went through in 2008.
In some ways, it feels more like a passion project than a business which I definitely respect. I really admire what Mike and Ship John are doing; these are more just random thoughts I’ve had. At the end of the day, if you can be happy, enjoy life, pay your bills, and set a little aside for the future, that’s what matters.
@selveldgesteps
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@northsouthdenimguy it sounds to me like you are describing a model that is more resilient against a big slowdown vs a company over leveraged with inventory
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That’s two ends of the spectrum: no inventory or too much inventory. There’s probably a happy medium for a small apparel business. He certainly has enough buyers at the moment, and it seems to me he could capitalize on that just a little bit while still staying true to his ethos.
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From what I’ve taken from what he’s said, it also boils down to the capacity for him and his team to secure the specific material he wants, the amount of hands they have to put the product together, and then ultimately the capital to buy the material.
It definitely comes across as a passion project turned business, but that’s what makes it so authentic. He makes what he wants to wear and it just so happened that a lot of people also seem to want to wear the stuff that he likes to wear.
I can appreciate the fact that while there is enormous demand for his products, he’s cognizant of the fact that he doesn’t necessarily want thousands of his shirt out there because he wants his product to also be unique. Call it artificial scarcity or whatever you want, but that’s what he’s said about his products being out there and I can respect that.
instagram: @harrisongering
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Once again, I don’t want this to come across as a negative thing it was just a curiosity. I really like a lot of stuff he’s doing.
That’s a good question. I don’t know what they have in shop since I’ve never been there, but if you do have a retail location, it would seem that you would at least want to keep some substantial things(not just t-shirts) that people can buy when they come in.
@selveldgesteps
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Thank you. I’ve heard all the things you described and can definitely appreciate him for staying true to his way of doing business.
As for scarcity, I feel like everything I buy is scarce, since I rarely see anyone wearing even Iron Heart, let alone Ship John.
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@nytimes_gaiden I went to the shop last August maybe a week after the indigo sashikos were released (and sold out online) and they had a rack of them available and found one in my size. They had a number of wills jackets and mk hoodies that had also recently been released. The stock in the shop was pretty great tbh.
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@northsouthdenimguy they seem to be doing just fine and if Mike was doing it for the $ he would be operating his business very differently.
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I know everybody gets a little touchy with SJ/Mike and once again I’ve purchased quite a bit of stuff from them. It has nothing to do with questioning his business practices. It was just something I’ve thought about recently, especially with so many people that I know personally that are not able to get the drops…
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@derek111 yeah man. I agree. I got the sashiko one too when they came out. However, it’s still sitting on ice because this BT was screaming to be beat down.
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@Mizmazzle Looks really good man! I’m the opposite of you. Haven’t touched my BT one yet because of the Sashiko. But even that I haven’t worn because it’s too hot. I’m wearing their black trucker hat they released before summer.
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@Danimal506 that sashiko one is a hot wearer with that fabric. I’ve done a bunch of fishing and hiking in my BT and it wasn’t too hot. But a trucker can’t be beat for air flow!
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@Mizmazzle I’ve developed some pretty nasty sweat stains on the black one. Only thing to prevent sweaty clothes in Texas is nudity
Have you shrunk your BT at all? Any hot water soaks?
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@Danimal506 yeah. I boiling water soaked it twice right when I got it. It shrunk up nicely. I’ve washed it a couple times as well to get said sweat stains out after a hike. Mostly just dunking it into a creek.
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@northsouthdenimguy
The shop is almost always fully stocked! With items they make along with items that Mike just really likes and wants to make available..
Mike definitely keeps a hoard of items in stock for the local peeps. Which is crucial for a brick and mortar obviously… as far as the online drops go.. you just have to be tactical -
@Daiquirigranola ah that’s awesome I’ll definitely have to check it out when I’m next in Portland
