shared history but distinct systems could become one. On April 1, less than six months after the deal closed, S&S transitioned the entire Canadian business to its proprietary ERP and warehouse management system: ApparelSoft. That detail matters. ApparelSoft isn’t a vendor solution – it’s a system S&S built for itself, from the ground up, to handle the specific demands of the imprintable space: fast turnarounds, deep inventory, precise fulfillment. Most companies bring the software to the business. S&S shaped the software around it, the development of which was led by 17-year S&S leader and CTO Brian Beale. “Often IT and systems are the limiting factor in integrations,” Whitmoyer says. “It’s something that S&S has really got a good playbook for, and our IT group has done a phenomenal job.” S&S has an internal team that effectively operates as a software business for its bespoke technology platform. For the 2025 PPAI 100, S&S earned High Marks in the Innovation category, measuring each company’s leadership through digital transformation. It pairs that with High Marks for Online Presence, 2024 Revenue and Growth. With Canada converted, the focus has shifted entirely to the U.S., where the scale is significantly larger. The roadmap is aggressive. Behind those transitions are real decisions. The combined footprint of S&S and alphabroder meant duplication – multiple distribution centers serving overlapping regions. As part of the integration, S&S has made several strategic calls. It closed its legacy facility in Pompano Beach, Florida, while keeping alphabroder’s Orlando operation, where all orders and services will transition to. It retained the alphabroder distribution center in Fresno, California, giving S&S a valuable physical presence in that state. In Massachusetts, the alphabroder warehouse stayed open, adding coverage in the Northeast. These are tactical moves meant to sharpen fulfillment and improve service consistency, bringing alphabroder to the internal S&S standard with an improved service level. “Continuing S&S’s ability to really stand out in terms of customer service, delivery, accuracy and efficiency is absolutely the heart of the integration work,” Whitmoyer says. For S&S, fast integration isn’t new. When the company acquired TechnoSport, it converted the business to its systems within 90 days. The transition happened before the full brunt of COVID hit – a decision Myers credits with helping the company fully retain its headcount during the most volatile period the industry has faced in decades. What’s happening now is bigger, but the mindset hasn’t changed. “We’ve always been super-focused on the customer, which means executing and moving quickly,” Myers says. That urgency is the foundation of the integration. It’s not just stitching systems together but getting through it fast enough to start building again. Culture Merge Integrations often falter where org charts can’t help – where teams, habits and assumptions collide. But in the case of S&S and alphabroder, the people fit has been one of the simpler parts of the equation, according to leadership. “More similar than different,” is how Whitmoyer describes the two cultures. Longtime competitors, yes, but rooted in the same daily reality: large, fast-moving businesses built to serve the demands of decorators and distributors. That shared foundation made the first few months of integration more collaborative than combative. “The teams have worked really well together,” Whitmoyer says. “That’s been a huge benefit.” After my interviews in Salon Rose, I have a few hours to kill in the historic district of Quebec City, where a day before, merged teammates bonded during a scavenger hunt along the waterfront, past the old fortification and the statues up and down Rue des Carrières. In the evening, I check Must Read | Suppliers “Continuing S&S’s ability to really stand out in terms of customer service, delivery, accuracy and efficiency is absolutely the heart of the integration work,” –TOBY WHITMOYER S&S ACTIVEWEAR CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER 42 • JUNE 2025 • PPAI
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzU4OQ==