Matching shirts do a lot for a small business. Customers can tell who works there, your crew looks like a crew when they pull up to a job, and every shirt worn to the deli at lunch is a small ad. You do not need a big budget or a big order to do it well. You do need to pick the right shirts for the work, or they end up stretched, faded or stuffed in a drawer.
We are a small business ourselves, and this is the advice we would give a friend opening a shop in Bergen County.
Match the shirt to the job
Contractors, landscapers and trades
These shirts get sweaty, dirty and washed hot. A heavier 100% cotton tee like the Gildan 5000, about 5.3 oz according to its spec sheet, holds up and is inexpensive enough to replace. Darker colors hide wear. For summer work, a polyester performance tee breathes better and dries faster. For cold months, a 50/50 hoodie or crewneck in the same color keeps the look consistent, and an embroidered beanie or cap finishes it.
Restaurants, bars, cafes and food trucks
Front-of-house staff usually look best in a softer, more fitted tee like the Bella+Canvas 3001, which is lighter at about 4.2 oz per its specs and comfortable through a long shift. Black and dark heathers hide stains. If you also sell shirts to customers, it is often worth using the nicer blank for both, since your staff are effectively modeling them.
Salons, gyms and studios
Fit matters more here. Consider a women's cut alongside the unisex shirt, and think about tanks for gyms. A tonal logo, like dark gray on black, looks more upscale than a bright logo.
Offices, real estate and professional services
An embroidered polo or quarter-zip with a small left-chest logo is the standard for client-facing days. For a company outing or a charity walk, printed tees are fine and cost much less.
Where the logo goes
- Left chest: about 3.5 to 4 inches wide. Clean and professional. Works printed or embroidered.
- Full back: about 10 to 12 inches wide. This is where you put the business name, phone number and website so people can read it from across a parking lot.
- Sleeve: a small logo or a social handle. It is $3.00 extra per shirt on our list.
- Hat front: embroidered, about 2 inches tall.
A left chest plus a full back is the classic contractor and food truck combination. Keep the phone number big and simple. If the back is meant to get calls, test it: print it on paper at size, tape it to a wall and step back 15 feet.
How many to order
A simple rule: three to five shirts per full-time employee if they wear them every day, two for part-timers, plus a few extras in common sizes for new hires. Because there is no minimum on printed shirts, you do not need to stockpile. Order what you need and reorder later. Your design stays on file.
What it costs
Here is a realistic example for a ten-person crew, using colored garments and our current prices:
| Item | Quantity | Per piece | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gildan 5000 tee, left chest + back | 30 | $27.00 | $810.00 |
| Gildan 18500 hoodie, left chest only | 10 | $41.00 | $410.00 |
The same 30 tees on the softer Bella+Canvas 3001 would be $33.50 each, or $1,005.00. Adult 2XL and 3XL cost a little more. Embroidered caps are about $19 each at 24, and embroidered hats and polos start at 6 pieces, with a one-time $35 digitizing fee per logo that is waived at 24 or more.
Clothing is exempt from New Jersey sales tax under the state's rules for clothing and footwear, so printed staff shirts do not get sales tax added. How you handle uniforms on your books is a question for your accountant.
Selling merch to customers
Plenty of local places sell shirts and hats: the bar with a loyal crowd, the coffee shop with a good logo, the gym with a following. A few things make merch sell:
- Use a better blank. People pay $25 to $35 for a shirt that feels good, not one that feels like a giveaway.
- Design something people would wear even if they did not know the business. A clean logo, a local reference, the town name.
- Start small. Order a dozen in three sizes, see what sells, and reorder.
Keep everything consistent
A uniform only looks like a uniform if everyone matches. A few habits help small businesses keep it that way:
- Pick one or two shirt colors and stick with them. Write down the exact style and color, like "Gildan 5000, Navy," so reorders match.
- Use the same logo file every time. Keep your best version in one place and send that one, not a screenshot from your website.
- Keep a few extras in common sizes for new hires, so nobody spends their first week in a plain shirt.
- Replace shirts on a schedule. Faded, stained work shirts send the wrong message. Many shops refresh once or twice a year.
Hats are the easiest upgrade
If you only do one thing beyond shirts, make it hats. An embroidered cap with your logo gets worn on and off the job, looks professional in a way a printed shirt does not, and lasts for years. Trucker caps are popular with crews, and structured caps work well for customer-facing staff. Embroidered caps are about $19 each at 24 pieces, and our embroidery partner turns them around in 10 to 15 business days.
Make it match: trucks, windows and signs
Your shirts, truck and storefront should look like the same company. If you have a work truck or van, New Jersey law requires certain commercial vehicles to show the business name and town, and some licensed trades have extra lettering rules. We cover the details in our NJ truck lettering guide, and you can price a door lettering kit in the vinyl designer. For job sites, a coroplast yard sign with your logo and number is one of the cheapest ads there is. Try the sign designer.
Getting started
Upload your logo to the designer, place it on the left chest and the back, and compare a couple of shirts on price. If you would rather talk it through, book a 15-minute design chat. More on what we make for businesses is on our business apparel page.