When Taylor Swift donned a cap last month, it meant big business for KC company
When he awoke on a Sunday morning three weeks ago, Garret Prather knew something significant had happened.
And for an apparel company in Kansas City that manufactures âNew Heightsâ caps, it really was a big deal that superstar singer Taylor Swift was spotted at the Coachella music festival wearing that hat.
What Swift wears often sells out quickly, and orders for that cap featuring the name of Travis Kelceâs podcast went through the roof.
âOn Sunday there was a lot of back and forth between parties,â said Prather, who is vice president of strategic partnerships for Sandlot Goods. âAnd we havenât really looked back from there.â
| Taylor wearing a @newheightshow hat at #COACHELLA pic.twitter.com/tWBIWgabH0
â swiftiesflorals (@swiftiesflorals) April 14, 2024
Prather declined to say how many caps Sandlot was producing, but the clothing company Homage, which sells âNew Heightsâ products, initially sold out of the hats. They were made available again but the delivery dates were pushed back.
For Sandlot, this is the biggest order with the quickest turnaround time.
âItâs been a really good challenge for everybody across the team,â Prather said from the companyâs production site on Southwest Boulevard. âItâs not just like, âHey, we need to cut and sew and embroider and get out the door.â Itâs how are we going to do this, how are we going to make sure we have all the material on hand? Weâve been making calls to our various suppliers saying, âHey, something happened with Taylor Swift, a great thing and so here we are, and we need your help on this one.â
âI think whatâs been really nice is the relationships we have with our suppliers. They get it and theyâve helped us accelerate certain things in-house. From top to bottom from the team, getting an order, getting it cut down, getting it sewn, getting it decorated, getting it seamed, getting it shipped out the door, itâs everybody stacking hands. Probably the fastest turnaround that weâve had to do. Normally weâre eight to 10 weeks from a custom order being placed, getting that done out the door.â
But in the case of Swiftâs âNew Heightsâ cap, the first orders were turned around in a weekâs time.
Sandlot has a retail store in Leawood and has items for sale at the Made in KC Marketplace on the Plaza. The company has worked with the Kansas City Current and produced retro Kansas Jayhawks gear.
In addition to caps, Sandlot offers pennants, tote bags, baseballs and beverage âsweaters.â
But at this time, the âNew Heightsâ caps, which are also available in black, are front and center for the company.
âFor us, itâs not like weâve ever had that happen before at Sandlot. Itâs been a lot of learning,â Prather said. âWe have black hats. We have black fabric on hand. And so we immediately started cutting down because it was an offer of both the black hat and the green hat.
âAnd so we got started on those immediately as those sold and then the green. Itâs pretty much all green getting sewn right now as we work and focus on that. Weâre continuing to try to get shipments out to Homage so they can fulfill and just keep this party going.â
The company has 40 full-time and part-time employees, so there are limits to how fast it can produce one of the most popular caps in the country.
Prather has been encouraged by how other customers have been flexible given the surge in work being done at Sandlot.
âWeâre concentrating on the order we have and making sure that we definitely deliver that, because weâre balancing that on top of a lot of other orders that we already had in the queue,â Prather said. âAnd then what Iâve spent the past two weeks doing as well as navigating this order is calling clients trying to make sure they understand the situation, how unique it is.
âThankfully almost everybody has been super understanding. Theyâre excited for us, they see this as a really unique opportunity for us.â