Q2 2020 Founder's Update

Q2 2020 Founder's Update

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I’m glad Q2 is behind us (as I’m sure many of you are too)!

 

The shift in consumer behavior because of COVID has changed our product development direction. We have a good feel for the clothing guys want right now and we expect those trends to last at least through the middle of next year. We’ll still be offering the best assortment of merino business-casual shirting going forward, but you’ll see more casual knitwear styles from us in the coming months (i.e. joggers made from our heavy crew neck interlock fabric!).

 

I can speak for everyone on our team here: we’re thankful for our customers’ loyalty and support more than ever right now. We’ve been able to retain everyone on the Wool&Prince team and we’re doubling down on making the best merino clothing for you.

 

Combating Racism

 

George Floyd’s murder put a spotlight on the horrific racial injustice and police violence that have occurred in our country. We are trying to do our part to actively combat racism. As a team, we just had our first racial equity workshop and will continue to learn. Here’s the homework Meg assigned prior to the workshop and here's Meg's intro presentation.

 

Working Remotely

 

We’ve been working from home since March 16th. We have a team video call every Tuesday and Thursday where we do a popcorn style discussion. Each team member shares what they’re working on and what they did the previous weekend or their plans for the upcoming weekend. As a result, the team knows more, now that we’re working from home, about how each team member spends their weekends.

 


Fulfillment / Warehouse in Portland

 

We’re really struggling with our third party warehouse in St. Louis right now. They’ve expanded rapidly, service levels have dropped, and we’re seeing an uptick in misships (I’m really sorry if you’ve received a package with the wrong size or color. We’re working to sort this out with them.). We have two options if our current provider can’t get their act together: moving to a different 3rd party logistic provider in the midwest (most economical region for shipping to both coasts) or bringing fulfillment in house to Portland. I’d love to chat with anyone who has experience in this area. We’ve posted a job for a Portland-based warehouse manager.

 

Upcoming New products

 

We have exciting items for early fall delivery: henleys, sweatshirts, joggers, heavy crews, and restocking the charcoal herringbone.

 

Wear testing the joggers:

 



Button-Downs: 8/1 delivery
Stretch Chinos (khaki): 9/1 delivery
Knit items: ~9/1 delivery

 

I’d love to give expected delivery dates on the knit items, but we’re running into some production delays with our cut and sew partner. They’ve been busy sewing masks for the South Korean government (can't get mad at that!).