As a wholesaler of funny t-shirts, Crooked Monkey has always found creative ways to get our t-shirts into the hands of the end consumer (that's you!).

In the beginning we used to drive around in our Honda Civic--making appointments and delivering shirts on site. Then we started attending tradeshows--really launching our brand further. We started to get recognized at these tradeshows and attending more and more of them. At the height of our love of tradeshows, we probably attended 20 shows/year. Buyers from retail stores all over the country, and the world, came to check out our newest lines and see what new wholesale opportunities were available for them.

Then came the recession. Buyers realized that a trip to Las Vegas, with all the associated costs, was just not in the cards, baby. They decided, and rightfully so, that they'd rather use their money on clothing, and not on frivolous trips. By August of 2008, we decided that Crooked Monkey would significantly reduce its presence at tradeshows and increase its direct contact with stores--either thru road trips (returning to the glory days), phone calls, emails, and other methods.

It is with a bitter sweet feeling that I report that we made the right decision. The Tradeshow is dead. They have become a waste of time. Crooked Monkey has managed to reduce its presence at shows, while still growing during this great recession--proof that quality and awesomeness at the right price is priceless.

Here's one other issue that really irks me about tradeshows. The slowing economy causes less retailers to attend tradeshows. Meaning that wholesalers, like Crooked Monkey, sell less clothes at these shows. The logical progression would be that Tradeshows should drop the price of their shows and offer incentives--yet they continue to charge astronomical prices. How does that make any sense? Not a sermon, just a thought.

Oh and the picture below is from our first ever tradeshow 3 years ago! That's Jon, Della and Me.

Labels: About us, Boutiques, not a sermon just a thought, Office Stories, recession, reflections, retail, ruminations, Tradeshows, wholesale

Last week was the semi-annual MAGIC tradeshow at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Since we are primarily a wholesaler of funny t-shirts, this is a great spot for us to show our line and introduce our retailers to our new funny and graphic t-shirts.

The graphic shirts, were a big hit at the show, and we'll be introducing them to our website very soon. I love the new graphic shirts because they look awesome. Although they're not funny, they still work within our demographic, and it opens up a whole new market for Crooked Monkey. Pretty soon we won't just be the funniest t-shirt company, but the provider of all awesome t-shirts in the world. Quite a lofty goal, I know, but with your help we can make it happen.The tradeshow itself was certainly less attended than in previous years--there were 1/3 less wholesale exhibitors and probably the same drop in the numbers of retailers attending. We met a bunch of great people out there and got picked up a by few high end stores in Italy. Our shirts will now be in the fashion capital of the world--watch out.

We stayed at the Wynn. If you haven't been there yet, I'd suggest checking it out. It's sweeeet. They've also got a European Pool. The club there, Tryst, is tons of fun--and overlooks waterfalls.

We returned on Friday and are ready to get back to creating awesome shirts, like the one below.

Labels: Italy, Las Vegas, Tradeshows, wholesale

I haven't really gotten a chance to blog/talk about Las Vegas. Crooked Monkey Funny t-shirts took quite a large booth this time at the tradeshow out there. It was twice the size of last year's booth, and it really helped increase our Wholesale Funny t-shirt customer base. We got it into a slew of new stores and introduced our fall line. We've got a great picture of Ben wearing our I recyle boys t-shirt.

If you'll notice in that picture my tri's look pretty big. Well there's two way to grow those babies. You can either spend time in the gym or wear smaller shirts. I've chosen the latter.

Back to the topic at hand. Tipping in Las Vegas. It's such a ridiculous "custom" in Las Vegas. Every single person in the entire city expects hand outs. My brother and I played a little game where we tallied up all the tips that we were expected to give in a day. I also had a pocket in my wallet that was dedicated to tips--I figured I needed about $50 in singles a day to satiate the Las Vegas obssession with tipping. At the end of my trip I was giving bills to anyone walking within a five foot radius--lest I upset someone for not being forthcoming in offering tips.

Next year, instead of handing out tips, I'm going to hand out our "I do it for the tips" t-shirt. Maybe that'll cheer them up.

Labels: Las Vegas, Life stories, Tradeshows, wholesale

Well I should've been blogging from Vegas, but instead I'm stuck in Dulles airport waiting for my plane to take off. We are delayed 5 hours because of mechanical errors. Rose from Southwest Airlines is being very helpful and has promised to right Southwest's wrong.

Heres why getting delayed sucks--we rushed over to the airport, I probably forgot a lot of stuff back at the office because we were racing to get out of there--and then you get to the airport only to have to sit there and wait. Its called hurrying up to wait. Its pretty annoying. But at least I have my blackberry (which I will be blogging about later) so I can answer all queries and concerns while I'm away.

We're going to Vegas to sell our funny t-shirts. I have a feeling that our Guys Facebook T-shirt and Girls Facebook T-shirt will do very well. We've also got a whole bunch of brand new funny t-shirts which haven't made it online yet--but we're debuting them in Vegas.

I'll talk more about funny t-shirts and Vegas as the days go on. Thanks for reading.

Labels: Las Vegas, Tradeshows

August is a busy month for funny t-shirts. We go from tradeshow to tradeshow, culminating in the big trip to Vegas. This year, we're taking a whole entourage to Vegas. Ben's coming, and then Heather, Sylana, Kevin, and Matt will also be in attendance. Ben and I have a suite at the Luxor Hotel--so if you're in town stop by because that's how we roll. We've got a hot tub, bubbly and I think Monday night is topless night at the Luxor. Looks like we lucked out.

Lots of movies document trips to Vegas, but I think Vince Vaughn's Swingers did it best. What funny t-shirt would Vince have worn to the clubs? I know he likes to get dressed to the nines for the BJack table, but I'm assuming if he would've hit up Pure or any of the clubs he probably would've been wearing a C monkey funny t-shirt. Here's my top 5 t-shirts, in no specific order, that Vince would've worn:
-I'm not a gardener I just like hoes
-Best Buds
-Butterface
-Keep the Ratio Strong
-It's my duty to please your booty

Either way, cheers and we'll be reporting from Vegas! In the meantime don't forget to check out our funny guys t-shirts and cute girls t-shirts

Labels: Las Vegas, Tradeshows

Bloggers have tremendous responsibilities and I feel like I've neglected them for the past week. I haven't written about funny t-shirts, fruit gushers or anything since I don't even know when. I feel like I've even forgotten how to write a blog, it's been so long.

Some people say writing a blog is like riding a bike, but, for one thing, you don't have to sit on an uncomfortable bike seat when you're writing a blog. I'm actually sitting in a pretty plush chair gazing out onto a sea of Funny t-shirts. What better view could you ask for?

I was out of the office for the past week at a tradeshow, and Ben held down the fort. Making sure that the funny t-shirt empire thrived in my absence. Actually Ben made some changes while I was away. Apparently he's the new CEO of Crooked Monkey. He had a board meeting, in which he was the only attendee, and put it to a vote and miraculously won. Congratulations Ben.

Labels: Ben Green, blogging about blogging, fruit snacks, Office Stories, Tradeshows

We've got a tradeshow in NYC this week. Actually I'm at it right now. We're showing our new line of Hoodies, Thermals and Pants. Pretty amazing that we've expanded into the realm of pants and hoodies. To think how far we've come in the world of funny t-shirts.

The reception has been well received and we'll be posting the Fall samples for everyone to see somewhat soon. We picked up a bunch of new stores, so look out for Crooked Monkey Funny t-shirts at a retailer near you.

Instead of putting up pictures of me and and the Donald getting bottle service at some trendy lounges in the Lower East Side, I decided to put picutres of me and former-Governor Spitzer riding around town looking for prostitutes--because even though I'm not a governor I still like the hoes.

Well actually I forgot my camera on that ride, so I'll just post some pictures of the new samples of our funny t-shirts, funny hoodies, and funny pants.

For both pictures, From left: Hilary, Max, Rachel, Laura, Andre, Amanda.

Keep the comments clean!

Labels: models, Photo shoot, Photoshoot, Samples, Tradeshows