The challenge: a winter wardrobe

After she established her credibility as a uniform supplier, Quiroz was asked by that same client to provide recommendations for shirts the staff can wear in the cooler winter weather. “They want to do something different for the winter, and definitely long sleeves for the waitstaff,” Quiroz says. There’s a small but well-known Mexican restaurant chain whose waitstaff wears fitted long-sleeve camp shirts. She thinks the style might work for her restaurant client as well. “If you picture a fitted and tapered ¾-sleeve for women, it would be similar to that, but in a long-sleeve version for men,” she says.

The problem solvers

One option for the restaurant’s winter uniforms is the CoolMax Rip-Stop Shirt (NNS6143) from NYNE (asi/43778). It’s a 4 oz., 70/30 cotton/CoolMax poly blend, which is breathable and provides excellent moisture management – two critical features for a restaurant environment. The shirt has back pleats for added comfort and a triangle side vent so it can be worn in or out. It comes in black (and three other colors), so it’ll provide continuity for the restaurant’s look.
Another option is the DriTech men’s LS Twill from Aramark. This 4.5 oz. 70/30 cotton/poly shirt will wick moisture away from the body, and it has the added benefit of a soil-release finish that wards off dirt.

The challenge: sink or swim on service

Even though employees were wearing pretty standard lower-end unisex polo shirts, a Salem, OR-based chain of pizza restaurants wasn’t looking to upgrade its uniform program so much as it wanted to upgrade the supplier’s service levels. Shipments were either incomplete or inaccurate, and many items were back-ordered for a month or more.

The problem solver

Enter Kristie Klavinger, an account manager for American Eagle Graphics. She spent several months researching new uniforms and bringing samples to her prospective new client. She ended up with two vendors whose easy-care lines were price point-conscious; in addition, they had a variety of styles from women’s polos to men’s long-sleeve dress shirts to stylish polar fleeces – an especially important consideration when the dominant uniform color is red.

She also was able to secure contract pricing on the pieces she selected, reduce embroidery costs and secure free shipping on orders over $200 – all of which is important to the franchisees of this 115-store chain, who bear the full cost of outfitting up to 15 employees per store. But this is the clincher: out-of-stock items turn within 10 business days. “When the franchisee places the order online, we don’t cut a purchase order right away. We wait a few days to group the orders together, so that’s why it’s a 10-day turn,” Klavinger says.

Even with all of that, she adds, her prices per shirt were still a couple of bucks higher than the previous supplier’s. In some cases that would be a deal-killer, but not this time; American Eagle launched the new uniform program in January. “The ease of doing business with us allowed them to justify the price increase,” Klavinger says. “I’ve had a ton of feedback not only on our service but on the quality of the shirts. No one has complained or even commented on the price increase.”

Klavinger’s hard work resulted in the chain being able to replace its outdated unisex uniforms with something that not only gave the women some more stylish options, but gave the entire franchise a more current and appealing look – all at a cost that price-conscious franchisees could live with. “The girls don’t look sloppy anymore wearing the men’s polos or dress shirts, and we also gave them a Scotchgard option on the shirts,” she says.

The challenge: stock chef coats

With all of the Navy bases and other military facilities in and around the Norfolk, VA, area, Karen Fenz of Ship Shape spends a fair amount of her time outfitting a wide variety of military personnel. Right now she’s looking for a supplier that stocks a white, executive-style chef coat with navy-blue piping. She’s found plenty of navy coats with white piping, but not the other way around. And of course, lots of suppliers are willing to make a custom coat for her, but her client doesn’t want to spend that much money.

The problem solver

We found just the coat Fenz is looking for at Chefwear (asi/49670), which offers the Regal (4130 Premier) chef coat, made of 100% royal fine-line 6 oz. cotton twill, double-breasted and with a crossover Mandarin collar trimmed in navy, black or green piping, in sizes XS-5XL.

The challenge: tying ties

Attracting and retaining the best staff members is the key to success in any restaurant. Managers are constantly implored to “hire for attitude and train for skills,” because a positive attitude and good customer service skills are relatively rare, but an employee can be trained to do just about anything the job requires.

It stands to reason, then, that no restaurant is going to turn away promising prospective employees because they can’t tie a uniform tie. Yet restaurants today are hiring increasing numbers of young men and women who’ve never worn a tie and don’t have the foggiest idea how to go about it.

The problem solver

If an employee can zip a zipper, he can wear the zipper tie, an ingenious invention that has been around for years but is now seeing renewed demand to meet the needs of a new generation that has seen “Casual Friday” became “Casual Everyday.”

“We’ve had a lot of luck with it in the country club and restaurant business,” says Robert Gelles of Global Neckwear Marketing (asi/57556), which added the zipper tie to its line four years ago. The teeth of the zipper are built into the neckband, while the zipper itself is in the knot of the tie so that it can be loosened (unzipped) and taken on and off with ease. The ties come in regular (20 inches) and extra-long (23 inches) lengths in either 100% poly or 100% silk; there are 14 colors in poly, and a few less in silk. The ties can also be custom logoed, and because Global Neckwear does its own manufacturing, it can split orders between regular ties and zipper ties – which will please those who still remember how to tie one.

The challenge: a (shirt) tail of woe

“I’m working with a yacht club, and one of the problems we’ve had with women’s shirts is that they won’t stay tucked into their pants if the women are full-figured,” says Phil Fuller of Fuller Incentives. “The bartenders are constantly bending over to reach bottles or ice, and the shirts generally aren’t long enough.”

The problem solvers

There are two ways to solve this problem: first, with a shirt that has a longer tail, and second, with a pant that has a “gripper” type waistband that essentially grabs the shirttail and keeps it tucked in. We found plenty of examples of both.

One supplier that offers longer versions of women’s silhouettes to help combat this problem is iD by Landau. The coed “Kris” is a notched-collar 65/35 poly/cotton camp shirt with side vents and a straight hem. This shirt also features soil release, which is great for foodservice environments. The Kris comes in XS-4XL (2-28) in eight colors.

The “Maygan” is a 60/40 cotton/poly brushed-twill blouse featuring feminine styling, with front and back darts for shaping, a curved hem to tuck in or wear out and reinforced seams.

“It’s always helpful for us to know whether the garment will be worn outside or tucked in,” says Kathleen Carey, director of merchandising and design for iD by Landau. “We try to accommodate both options in our styling.”

Vantage Apparel’s Enterprise Piqué Polo (2801) is a 7 oz. 100% combed cotton polo with a classic, fuller cut and a longer body in three colors (including white), in sizes XS-3XL. The Baby Piqué Polo (2726) is a 5¼ oz. 100% combed cotton double-tuck polo with an even hem bottom with side vents. It comes in 17 colors (including white), sizes XS-3XL.

The chart below compares body lengths for these two polos. The longer lengths for style 2801 indicate the shirt’s drop tail, although the differences in length become less as you move up the size chart. Still, in most sizes, the extra length in style 2801 could keep it from pulling out of the pants.

Dickies (asi/49675) also offers several shirts that feature longer tails, including the Women’s Stretch Poplin Classic (FL010), a 5 oz. 65/35 poly/cotton shirt that offers a tailored fit with darts and princess seams as well as wrinkle-resistant and stain-release finishes. It comes in short or long sleeves in five colors (including white), in sizes XS-2XL.

In addition, Dickies has several pants options that feature a waistband that will “grab” the shirttail. The Women’s Cargo Pant offers a relaxed fit and a moderate rise, sitting naturally at the waist. These pants are wrinkle- and fade-resistant and have a Scotchgard stain-release finish, lots of pockets, and stretch interlining in the waistband for expanded comfort. They come in black, dark navy and khaki, in sizes 4-24. The Women’s Multi-Pocket Pant offers many of the same features, and is also available as shorts.

Another option that many distributors may not have considered before are the garments typically worn by police, fire, EMT and other public safety officers. “All of our shirts have extra-long tails to stay securely tucked in,” says Tom Ames, director of marketing for Blauer Manufacturing Co. “All of our trousers have aggressive silicone beading on the waistband to grip the shirt tails.” Many of these shirts have epaulettes and come in white – features that would work well in a yacht club environment.

WearGuard-Crest also offers a women’s pants style in an 8 oz., 65/35 poly/cotton blend that features a flattering fit and a half-elastic back, inner lining on the waistband and a stain-resistant finish. This would be a good choice for an environment where durability, stain resistance and crease retention are important. The pants come in black, charcoal gray, navy, tan and white, in sizes 4-28.