HISTORY
Drop Em Wear? began 30 years ago in Elmira Heights NY in 1994. I was fresh out of college and had a passion for minitrucks and pretty much anything that burned gas. I also had a passion for art. I had studied Advertising Design And Production At Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica NY where I received my Associates Degree. I then transferred to Elmira College where I studied Art Education and received my Bachelors Degree in education K-12. Folks, teaching was cool but trucks, art, and being edgy was way cooler.
I was always pushing the envelope with shirt sayings. I made beer money in college air brushing t-shirts for friends. The more edgier the slogan the better they would sell. So, during the spring of 1994 Drop Em wear was created. I made a cheesy logo. I thought the name was cool and marketable. There was nobody else selling shirts like mine at the time; not a single person. Friends and family thought my idea was crazy because it was a niche market. I didn't have any big money backing me, it was just me, my buddy Curt, and the drive not to be average.
My first hurdle was how to market. In 1994 the internet was new and I knew I had to be inovative if I wanted to succeed. I purchased the Drop Em Wear? domain and sat on it because I had no idea how to create a website or how to reach people once it was created. I did however, create a lame catalog, and very informative one at that. My catalog was complete with black and white drawings and an order form that I hoped people would mail back to me.
One day the orders began to trickle in, holy cow, the catalog worked; now what? I hit the show scene handing out catalogs to everyone I saw while I attended the Carlisle All Truck Nationals in June of 1994. I only had 72 shirts with me at that time and the determination to make money. Took me forever to sell the shirts in between drinking beer and looking at all the cool trucks Carlisle All Truck Nationals had to offer. I sold the shirts in the campground by word of mouth. I didn't have enough money nor product to set up a booth. Slung em out the back of my 88 Mazda pickup. Strangly, I was successful, who knew! Drop Em Wear? was born.
From 1994-1998 I sold shirts over the phone, through the mail and, at local shows. In 1998 I decided to leave NY for a bigger and better future so that I could be closer to the South East show circut and live in less snow. The move to Winston Salem NC allowed me too attended shows like BOOGER BASH, TEXAS HEAT WAVE and SLAMFEST.
After the move to NC I tried to get a teaching job and the starting pay was $18,000 per year, definately not enough to support a family or a new business. I threw that idea in the trash and started working at a local stereo shop installing car stereos. This job kept me in the mix of the custom car adn truck scwnw and was flexible enough to allow me to travel to shows. Working all week, managing Drop Em Wear? at night and traveling to shows on weekends is what my life was for a while.
In 2000 I sold my bagged Astro van and dumped my money into a new Ford crew cab dually. I purchased a 38 foot enclosed trailer from Trailers Of the East Coast in Mocksville NC to vend out of. I dropped the trailer off to my buddy Andy Biggers to have him decal the trailer. 2000 was the first time I used my skull logo which is now the primary logo for the business.
In 2000 I took the plunge and became a full-time self employed man. I moved Drop Em Wear? into an industrial warehouse and gave the business my 100%. I didn't have another job to fall back on. If it rained at the show it was money lost. I was in the same boat as the promoter. I had gas, hotel, employees and, food to pay so I could get to the show to make money. I still wasn't big enough to take a large financial hit and survive. I didnt have the luxury of coming back to my weekday job yo support myself and my family. It was do or die time. I was using my credit card with a $3,500 limit maxing it out and paying it off over and over again in order to keep purchasing, printing, and selling t-shirts. . Banks wouldn't give me a loan for the business. They kept telling me I was too much of a risk.
By the early 2000's I was hitting 35-40 shows a year spanning from Texas to Florida to Connecticut. I was putting miles on the Ford quickly while trying to hit the hottest shows in the country. Over the next 5 years the business exploded. I couldn't even tell you the color of my house because I would leave the house before the sun came up and I wouldn't be back to the house till midnight or 1am. Day in day out for months on end just hammering out work. Vacations and days off were not an option. I just kept creating shirts to sell. At this time I had to be up to at least 180 shirt created with an inventory of a good 75 designs in the rotation.
In 2004 my son JC was born. I do not have words to describe the love I have for him or the way he changed me. All I wanted to do was love him and provide for him. He was and will always be my life's greatest accomplishment.
The company was growing by leaps and bounds. I had 4 phone lines and a handfull of employees taking calls and fulfilling orders. Our gross annual sales were over a million dollars. Not too bad for a kid who created a company in his apartment kitchen with a buddy. Finally people were starting to recognize Drop Em Wear?. Show promoters were requesting our presence at shows. Curt and I gave away 10's of thousands of shirts out of our air powered t-shirt cannon. The show goers loved it and who doesn't like a FREE shirt shot our of a gun at 3500 psi. Facebook or social media did not exist at that time either. If you wanted to see the hottest trucks and get the hottest gear then you had to get out to a show.
In 2015 I purchased a new vending trailer from Trailers Of The East Coast. The easy-up canopy tents and boxes were not longer time nor cost efficient. This trailer was going to help efficiency at the shows as well as create a bigger presence in the automotive scene. I teamed up with my good friends at MTX and they installed a stereo/pa system complete with mixer and subwoofer. The four LCD flat screen TVs they installed allowed me to play the hottest scene DVDs all day in a continuous loop. The trailer was wrapped in the latest Drop Em Wear? livery enticing many fans to snap pics of their rides. My gigantic logo became the background for many photo shoots; man I have been blessed.
From this point till now I have been selling and creating shirts. I have been living my dreams. I had successfully created something from nothing. What I created means more to me than money. Drop Em Wear Clothing had become a cornerstone on the car show scene and a household name for those on the custom car and truck scene.
In 2017 I decided to move embroydery in house. In 2018 I moved all the screen printing in house. This allowed me so much more artistic freedom with my designs. By designing the shirts, and printing the shirts I have become 100% self sufficient. I could effectively create a shirt in the am, throw it to the site, print film, make the screens, sell shirts, print the shirts and ship the shirts in the same day. Heck they may even still be warm when you get em!
In 2019 I had the trailer re-wrapped with NEW Drop Em Wear? Livery and for the first time in 25 years the skulls were not lining the bottom of the trailer but rather, headlining the top. The guys and gals at Illusions Wraps in VA knocked it out of the park with the new wrap. They even added names and dates of deceased fans/customers/family and friends we have lost from the scene in a scattered pattern throughout the wrap. Its my way of saying thank you for making a difference in my life. I am close to my customers. They come to my booth to spend their hard earned money, say hey, get a handshake or a hug and share life with me. What an amazing honor to know so many of you.
As I enter in to year 31 in business I can only do this with a heart full of gratitude and love and a humbled soul. I continue to work with my buddy Curt, my right hand man Andrew, and all of you. My customers and the people who love, and care for me have given me the opportunity to live out my dreams. My hope is that I am creating a legacy for my son. There has been no greater joy than sharing JC with all of at shows and wathcing him learn the trade.
Thank you all for the greatest 30 years a man could ask for and here's to another 30 ~ John Beebe