Beer pouch sweatshirt catches on at Disney World, NBC
Wisconsin — Brew City Promotions Inc.’s beer pouch sweat shirt – which allows the wearer to carry a brewski hands-free – has turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving for the small Milwaukee T-shirt company.
Since the rollout in 2007 of the hooded sweatshirt with a pouch, sales of the item have been so strong that Brew City finished 2009 with an increase in revenue. The beer pouch shirt has opened doors for the company to get products into high-profile venues such as Disney World and the NBC gift shop at Rockefeller Center.
Yes, Disney World. The family-focused theme park sells the beer-pouch shirt in the German village at the Epcot Center.
“We’ve been lucky,” said George Keppler, co-owner of Brew City. He credits the uniqueness of the $35 pouch shirt for its success in a recession.
Keppler has been pursuing sales to the tourism market for several years. Brew City has been selling products to The Paradies Shops, the Atlanta-based airport retail chain, and last year got the beer pouch shirt into Paradies stores at airports across the country. The shirts were designed with the name of each city where they were sold, Keppler said.
Brew City also makes products for such tourist locations as the Seattle Space Needle and the Chicago Blues Festival. Since launching the beer pouch at Epcot, the company has booked orders from Disney for other styles of shirts and hats.