Entrepreneur Sundy adds fifth company to mix

Entrepreneur Paul Sundy has added his fifth company to the mix.

English Apparel & Promotional Materials opened today as a partnership with Mike Heslin under their English Management umbrella. Sundy also has ownership in restaurants/lounges Parlor 88, Big Whiskey’s and Dublin’s Pass, each of which operates as a client of English Management.

The latest venture functions as a national distributor of promotional items, awards, gifts and apparel. As a member of Advertising Specialty Institute and a licensee for Sage Online, English Apparel Sales Director Angie Bellanti said the company orders from 4,300 vendors and has access to 950,000 items. Bellanti said the inventory – from logo cookies and clocks to key chains and koozies – is searchable online and the company has printed a couple hundred catalogs for distribution.

Products are on display at a 1,500-square-foot showroom on the ground floor of its 316 E. McDaniel St. office, where the company also employs Marketing Director Laura Head and Graphic Designer Vance Hall. A 7,500-square-foot on-site warehouse stores bulk orders, Bellanti said.

English Apparel joins market competitors Creator Designs, Express Press and Executive Data Control. The top six promotional products companies combined reported at least $14 million in 2012 revenues, according to Springfield Business Journal list research.

Sundy said promotional products sales are a $16 billion industry nationwide.

“There’s definitely something there,” he said. “People need this stuff all the time.”

He said the idea for another company grew out of an internal interest.

“It evolved out of a need to print our own T-shirts in house in conjunction with the events we have going on,” he said, noting English Management runs four outdoor events, including the upcoming Bikes & Brews fundraiser for Ozark Greenways on the downtown square May 11. “We have the infrastructure behind it.”