TAHPERD Summer Hit

TAHPERD has come and gone and we enjoyed seeing everyone at the conference! Many people expressed interest in our new designs, but there was clearly a fan favorite. PE Love sold out quick. If you are interested in getting yours, then you can order it here - http://store.rocksports.net/PELOVE.html.

Closing the doors to Lakeline RockSports

After two years of having two RockSports locations, we have decided to close RockSports Lakeline location as you know it now. We are not closing the doors to the Lakeline location, rather we have an exciting, fresh concept that we will be implementing immediately - opening in July.

RockSports Lakeline was opened as a realization of a dream to have several custom screen printing and embroidery satellite locations around the Austin area. We have learned so much about the capabilities of expanding a custom product and service at multiple locations. We want to thank all of our faithful customer that stuck by us and helped us make that dream a reality. Although, we have had great success, dreams change and we have a new concept that we believe will be even more enjoyable and successful for our customers.

We would like to invite all of our current Austin, Lakeline RockSports' customers to please continue doing business with us through our Round Rock location. Despite a little more drive time, remember that we offer the same great service via email, phone, online, and we offer affordable freight if the drive is unbearable.

Phone: (512) 218-9913 x 306
Email: james @ rocksports.net
Web: www.rocksports.net


Much more information about the new concept will be coming soon. Reopening will be in July!!!

Team Sophia

For the past few months RockSports has had the privilege of working with Team Sophia. Team Sophia is a group of people that support and follow the news about Sophia and her family. Sophia is a beautiful girl who was recently diagnosed with a cancerous tumor behind her left eye. RockSports was asked to put together a web-store as a fundraiser, to raise money for Sophia's foundation by providing apparel.

Sophia and her family designed the t-shirts and have had excellent success with their fundraiser. In the past three months they have raised over $2,000.00 for their foundation.

All of us at RockSports have been inspired by the love, dedication, and resilience of Sophia's family. We are thankful and blessed to be involved with Team Sophia and we look forward to the day when she is cancer free. It is our hope that you would choose to be involved and would consider giving to such a worthy cause.

Ways to get involved:
Team Sophia on Facebook
http://jesusbling.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/amywvogel
Team Sophia Gear

Digital Printing at RockSports

The Digital Printing Process for dark garments involves a pre-treatment of the garment, so that the white ink will sit on top of the shirt. The pre-treatment must be dried via the heat press. You then get your artwork ready and send it to the printer. You then print your design. Finally, you cure the ink by heat pressing the shirt again.

To design your own shirt and order it today, please visit http://www.rockapparelshop.com or http://www.rocksports.net.

Dedication to longevity, transparency, and fair pricing

RockSports will be turning 20 years old this year. We want to thank all of our customers for their loyalty to our business. Many people know that RockSports is a family business. Whether blood related or not, we treat all of our employees and customers like family. We value traditional principles of hard work, transparency, and loyalty. Great achievement requires great leadership and a commitment to providing customer satisfaction. To stay true to our beliefs, this post is about an inevitable price increase.

Prices are going up!?!
The past year has been difficult on the screen printing industry and small businesses in general. In the last year prices from our garment suppliers were raised six different times! As a total, we have seen costs rise over 40%! In 2010 we tried to keep our prices down and bear the burden of the rising garment costs. Unfortunately, over the long term, this strategy is not going to be prudent for our business or our customers.

Who does this effect?
Everyone, with exception to the contracted bid prices - RRISD, Leader ISD, and Hutto ISD.

Why is all this happening?
Our analysis brought back four different reasons:

The price of cotton
The price of oil/transportation (yes - a common scapegoat)
Natural Disasters to Textile providers (Haiti in particular)
Labor Markets (email me if you would like some articles)

Another interesting read:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/09/news/economy/cotton_shortage_could_inflate_clothing_prices/index.htm

What this means to our customers:
Many of our customers have been with us for years and have annually ordered similar products. This year, your price will be a little higher. We want to tell you now so that you can budget accordingly. We are also stepping up our cost savings efforts. We are looking to push more of our business online to increase order efficiency. We also want you to know that we will continue to offer the best, fair prices, regardless the outlook of the future economy.

We are listening to you! If you have any comments or any recommendations, then please email us or comment on this blog post.

Design Your Own T-Shirt Online

At RockSports, our goal is to give our customers the best experience when shopping for decorated apparel. One of the best ways we have improved our screen printing and embroidery services is by improving our technology. We've experienced a lot of success with our Online Apparel Stores (now called Rock Apparel Shops), which give our customers the ability to sell their products online easily. This year we are unveiling our new online t-shirt designer.

Have you ever wanted to design a custom t-shirt and order it online? RockSports brings you the convenience of ordering custom t-shirts online coupled with the dependability of professional, local printing.

How can we offer low minimums. It is simple, we use the latest technology. Direct-to-garment printing has come a long way in the last five years. We are now seeing water-based, screen printing-like quality from a digital printing machine. RockSports employs this technology for any www.rockapparelshop.com order.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to design your own t-shirt online:

Step 1: Visit this address (http://rocksports.deco-apparel.com/home/create) or www.rockapparelshop.com and click on the 'Design' link at the top of the page and choose your garment.

Step 2: Choose your garment color and select 'Printing' or 'Embroidery' from the links on the right.

Step 3: Select whether you would like to add text or a design. You can add either or both, just choose which one you would like to begin with.

Step 4: Choose your design from our wide selection of graphics or upload your own and enter your text in the provided field.

Step 5: Adjust the alignment, size, and any text effects you have applied and when you're satisfied with your t-shirt design click the 'Add to Cart' button on the right hand side.

Step 6: Once your t-shirt is in your cart, you can create another shirt or go ahead and check-out.

Step 7: Finally, proceed through our easy to use and secure check out system and in just a few shirt steps, your order process is complete.

Now that you know the process and just how easy it is to design and order your own custom t-shirt, give it a try today.

**Note: for dark garments, in quantities less than 6, we use a heat press decal to apply to your shirt. This may change soon!

Rock Apparel Shop - www.rockapparelshop.com

Sorry for being away for so long! Though we have been silent, we have not been idle. In fact, our latest project is ready for all the world to see. We are proud to announce our newest product - www.rockapparelshop.com. Rock Apparel Shop is really not a product, but more like a fulfillment center. It is more like a platform for buying and selling screen printing and embroidery.

Create a shirt - Ever think, "I have a great idea for a t-shirt!" Well, now you can prove it. Rock Apparel Shop allows you to create your own t-shirt design, put your created design on the garment of your choice, and then build your own online store to sell designed product. As you create the shirt

Sell your product/Ideas - Think corporate apparel, rock band merchandise, sports fan wear, or booster club merchandise. Create your own online store through Rock Apparel Shop and start making money. What is the cost? As for now, it is free if you are willing to do a little bit of set-up work.

Doesn't RockSports have an online designer? Yes! But, not like this. This one has thousands of high resolution clip art images. You can also upload your own artwork. It is also integrated with our production machines. That means quicker turn-around-times for our customers.

Rock Apparel Shop is still in its infancy and we will continue to show its potential with your help. How can you help? Create designs, build a store, sell products, and give us your feedback!