Gary DeCavage never set out to be “the cheapest guy on the block” when he launched his own silk screen business in 1975.
“The basic principle I stuck with over all the years is do as good a job as I could with a fair price. Too many people in this industry come and go because everyone is trying to beat each other out on price,” said DeCavage, noting he credits this outlook with his business’s ability to survive for more than three decades.
The business, now called the Connecticut Shirt Man, is unusual in the industry because it’s a mid-sized operation. DeCavage says most screen printers are either large companies, one-man shows or husband and wife teams.
“There’s very little in the middle because it’s such a competitive market,” he noted.
“Our primary products consists of customized clothing items for businesses and organizations,” he explains. “This includes polos, button-down shirts, jackets, caps, t-shirts, bags, towels, aprons and much more. Applications for these items may include staff attire, branding campaigns, promotional use, gift giving and employee recognition.”
Before starting Connecticut Shirt Man, DeCavage was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He also ran his own advertising agency for seven years. That’s why, he says, he never really needed a sales team to grow his company.
One of the things he’s most proud of is his business’ catchy name.
“I started designing shirts for Connecticut and that became a real claim to fame because there weren’t any being done. I spent a lot of time with the Connecticut Department of Tourism. I had stores in Essex and Watertown. I kept the name because it had so much notoriety,” he said.
Over the past 20 years, DeCavage says he’s developed a steady stream of business by fulfilling corporate orders. Today, 75 percent of his business growth comes from fulfillment, which consists of 35 company stores. His clients include the U.S. Navy’s memorabilia gift store, http://www.navyleagueshipsstore.com/.
“We have national accounts. We produce products for an organization and we sell them online or through a catalog,” he said. “What makes this work for us is we have a unique model. We don’t need a whole warehouse full of stuff for every company. We keep our inventory low. By doing that, when we work with a company who wants a company store, we don’t have to charge them a setup. We make the website here, do all the work and just ship out and give them a commission. That has been appetizing for a lot of businesses that need to get something out to their people. In lieu of them purchasing items and storing them until they need to, we just do it for them. The beauty of that is there’s no overhead.”
At peak times, DeCavage has had 15 employees working for him. Currently, he has eight which includes all three of his daughters. He hopes the women will continue with the company. He says most of the work he and his employees do is labor intensive and requires a creative eye for detail.
“All of my kids have an artistic background. They grew up playing and having food fights around the shop while dad was working until 2 a.m.,” DeCavage said with a laugh.
Most recently, Connecticut Shirt Man opened up a new office space in Hartford, an area where DeCavage says he’s experiencing a lot of growth. Although he says business has been steady even with some ups and downs based on the economy, he did hit a big roadblock a few years back.
“There was one point five or six years ago where I grew too fast,” he noted. “We grew 120 percent in one year. It almost killed us. I’m really trying to keep growth to a more logical path. That doesn’t mean we’re not taking in work, but we’re trying to not put too much overhead, people and equipment into the business.”
Joanna Smiley writes the weekly Local Insight column. Reach her at jsmiley@HartfordBusiness.com.
