Even though the summer heat is still hitting the Midwest, many customers already have fall season on the brain. It’s never too early to start thinking ahead—in fact, a new season can bring new creative ideas when it comes to decorating for a specific niche market. No matter where you’re geographically located, hopefully, these specific markets can resonate with you. At STAHLS’, we’re always hoping to inspire our customers to decorate using the latest trends and looks in the apparel industry. We’ve tapped into 5 markets we predict will be crowd-pleasers this upcoming season.
Outdoor Recreation: Camping & Fishing
Transitioning from summer to fall doesn’t mean that outdoor activities need to end. In fact, most people around the globe take advantage of camping and fishing during the cooler months. Spark some creativity with one-off jobs, or reach out to a local shop that sells hard goods and accessories for outdoor recreation. Did you know that hard goods are the perfect way to add on sales without investing in new equipment? Think outside the box! Instead of decorating just a crewneck sweatshirt with a fishing logo applied to it, try offering a tumbler or a cooler. These are great additions to give your customers a complete a look they’ll love for their next adventure.
Perfect Gear for the Outdoors
• CAD-CUT® REALTREE® Patterns – 20″ ORAJET® 3164 Sign Vinyl in RT Wav3 Contrast
• FlexStyle® by STAHLS’ Pressure Sensitive Emblems
Fall Sports & Fanwear
Fall time=football! Whether you’re in the stands, tailgating, or watching your favorite team from home, team pride never goes out of style. In addition to decorating your favorite zip-up, try personalizing a koozie for your drink, or cornhole boards to create the perfect tailgating experience. Cater to all the teams in your town, whether for a local school or a professional team.
Tailgate in Style
• CAD-CUT® Permanent P.S. Sign Vinyl for the corn hole boards
• CAD-CUT® UltraWeed™ for apparel and koozies
Picture Perfect Home Decor
When colder weather hits, it seems to spark the cozy “at home” mood when it comes to home décor. Most people love to gather indoors and host holidays and want their home to look as HGTV-worthy as possible. What better way to accessorize than by creating custom looks that can pass for something you’d pin on Pinterest using popular HTV materials.
At-Home Décor You’ll Love
• CAD-CUT® Permanent P.S. Sign Vinyl for the front door sign
• CAD-CUT® Soft Flock works well for throw pillows
Complete the Hunting Season with RealTree® Patterns
A few years back, STAHLS’ added camouflage patterns to our collection of patterned heat transfer vinyl. Realtree® is one of the top apparel brands on the market that caters to all things hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors with its woodsy designs. This is a perfect niche market to decorate for since we’re one of the only HTV manufacturers carrying this custom collection. All of our patterns can be ordered in several different ways such as:
- Glitter Patterns — 20″ wide rolls
- Express Print® Patterns — 20″ wide rolls (don’t forget Magic Mask!)
- CAD-CUT® Patterns in 20″ Orajet 3164 Sign Vinyl
- CAD-CUT® Patterns in Sublimation Transfers — 14″ x 20″ sheets
Be sure to check out some of our favorite camo patterns and order online through our wizard.
Health & Fitness — A Niche Market That Never Goes Out of Style
Even though health and fitness is important all year round, a lot of people tend to put more focus on it during the colder months, due to not being active outside. With gyms and health facilities opening back up, this is a great market you can reach within your community! Most gyms have merchandise when you first walk in the facility. Available items can range from shirts and leggings to hats, water bottles, towels, and more. One unique item that seems impossible to decorate is yoga mats. With it’s pebbled, foam texture and sensitive fabric, most people tend to shy away from decorating them. Luckily, STAHLS’ has the solution. In the video below, Jenna showed customers an easy way to decorate a yoga mat with confidence and without scorching it. Be sure to watch how she achieved this difficult application.
In addition to decorating yoga mats, offering reflectivity in the health and fitness market is a great way to grab customers’ attention. This special effect HTV will set you apart from your competition. Adding reflective accents to apparel helps customers stay safe and seen, and allows you to achieve the same high-end retail looks that some of the big name athletic brands in the industry, like Under Armour, Lululemon, and Nike, create.
Question…..we have a Kern 150 watt laser and interested in any applications that may allow us to use the laser. We also have a coffee shop/food service/drive through and merchandise retail area. We sell laser products, hats with heat press hat patches, clothing (from a third party), and a variety of other merchandise. We also sublimate and have both a hat press and George knight heat press.
Thanks in advance
Hello Scott. Please take a look at our laser cutter compatible material resource page here – https://www.stahls.com/laser-cuttable-heat-transfer-vinyl. If you have further questions, please contact our Customer Service team at 800-478-2457. Thank you for reading along and reaching out!