Company Apparel Without the Headache
Posted by Burghardt Sporting Goods on Aug 7th 2026
Company Apparel Without the Headache
Outfitting a company in branded apparel should not turn into a second job for one person.
Somewhere in most companies there is one person who got handed the apparel order. Maybe they are in HR, maybe they run operations, maybe they just made the mistake of being organized once. Now they have a spreadsheet of sizes, three people who never replied, a logo file someone pulled off the website, and a date they promised. We have been outfitting Wisconsin businesses and teams out of New Berlin for a long time, and the good news is that almost every headache in that process is avoidable if you sort out four things early.
Sort these out before you order anything
Get these settled and the rest of the process tends to take care of itself.
Find your real logo file
Not the one copied off your website. A vector file, meaning .ai, .eps, or .pdf, scales cleanly from a hat to a jacket back. If you cannot find one, say so early and our designers will sort it out.
Decide who is wearing it
Staff uniforms, client giveaways, and event shirts pull in different directions on garment, decoration, and quantity. Naming the audience answers most of the other questions for you.
Pick how people will order
One bulk order, or a company store where employees pick their own size. This single decision decides how much of the work lands on your desk.
Think past the first order
New hires show up. Jackets get left in restaurants. Plan the reorder path now, while the artwork and item list are fresh, instead of rebuilding it in February.
The spreadsheet trap
Collecting sizes by email and building a master spreadsheet feels like the responsible thing to do. It is also where most of the pain comes from. Someone reads a size wrong, two people never answer, the roster changes, and every correction routes back through one person. A company store moves that work to the people who actually know their own size.
Bulk order or company store?
Both are perfectly good answers. The question is what your year actually looks like.
A bulk order fits when
- Everyone is getting the same item.
- There is one deadline, like an event or a trade show.
- Headcount is steady and sizes can be collected once.
A company store fits when
- People join throughout the year.
- Staff should choose their own size and style.
- You want branding consistent without policing it.
The right setup is the one where nobody has to chase anybody for a shirt size.
What we actually do here
Screen printing, embroidery, and heat press all happen in-house at our New Berlin shop, which means your order is not getting handed to a stranger three states away. Our graphic designers prepare the artwork, and our Team Sales staff handle the setup, whether that is a single run of polos or an ongoing company apparel store your employees order from directly. If you are still weighing embroidery against screen printing, we broke that down in a separate post on screen printing vs embroidery.
We have been doing this since 1881, which is a strange thing to say about corporate polos, but the point stands. We are a family shop that has outfitted local businesses, schools, and teams for generations, and we are still right here in New Berlin if something needs fixing.
Bring this to your first conversation
- Your logo file, in vector format if you have it.
- Roughly how many people and how many items.
- Who is wearing it: staff, clients, or event attendees.
- Any colors your brand has to match.
- The date you actually need it in hand.
Let's get your company outfitted
Bring us your logo and a headcount. We will handle the rest.
15333 W National Avenue, New Berlin, WI 53151
Phone: (262) 790-1170
When you love your team like we do, you can't beat Burghardt!