Take a look in your closet. Open a dresser drawer. Chances are, something in your wardrobe — a T-shirt, polo, jacket, gym bag or backpack — is a SanMar product.

Whether it bears a label from Nike, The North Face, Port Authority, Sport-Tek or Carhartt, SanMar likely played a role in bringing the garment or accessory to you.

 

The company, based in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, Washington, imports casual apparel, outerwear and accessories from factories around the world, then supplies major brands as well as custom screen printers or embroiderers who put their personal stamp on the items.

“We are the largest supplier of imprintable apparel, bags and hats to the imported sportswear and promotional market in the U.S.,” said SanMar President Jeremy Lott. He likens his company’s products to a blank canvas.

“We sell shirts to people who put logos on them,” Lott said. “About 70,000 small businesses rely on us for their inventory.”

SanMar products are worn by students, corporate employees, club members and others. Lott is proud of the role the company plays in building community, whether it’s providing T-shirts for a local fun run or outfitting high school football fans in their school colors.

SanMar can ship its products from eight distribution centers around the country, located everywhere from Seattle to Jacksonville, Florida. That guarantees one- or two-day delivery to customers in more than 99 percent of the country. And the company keeps its warehouses stocked with a variety of fabrics, colors and sizes.

The distribution system plays to customers who “need it now” — which, Lott explains, is nearly everyone.

A vital link

SanMar sources its products from factories in 22 countries, including many in east and southern Asia, making its relationship with The Northwest Seaport Alliance a vital one.

“Having a well-functioning, efficient port that values partnerships and works with customers has been critical to our success,” Lott said.

Ensuring that SanMar can deliver the right products to the right places in time to meet its customer needs means it relies on accurate shipping timetables. The company utilizes both the Seattle and Tacoma harbors.

SanMar is a transload customer. That means shipping containers are unloaded at the port of entry, then cargo from multiple shipping containers are consolidated into a larger container for transport to destinations around the country.

“We’re proud to support SanMar’s operations, especially as it relates to transloading,” said Georgette Reidburn, NWSA’s senior business development representative.

Peak shipping season runs from late summer to November, and that’s when NWSA terminals often run extended gate times.

“Our role is overseeing communication — making sure all segments of the supply chain are talking to each other,” Reidburn said.

SanMar participates in the NWSA’s Executive Advisory Council, which brings industry leaders together twice a year to offer input and exchange ideas on ways to improve rail, trucking and terminal performance.

“We are big supporters of promoting growth in the region,” Lott said. “Our company was built in Seattle, and it was built off of trade.”

Built from the ground up

SanMar got its start in 1971. That’s when Lott’s dad, Marty, founded the business — distributing T-shirts from his parents’ Seattle basement.

He borrowed the company name from a business his father founded, named after him and his sister Sandra.

Marty’s sons Jeremy and Jordan grew up in the business, working after school and on Saturdays. The company is still family owned and operated.

The elder Lott’s business mantra was “Tell the truth, and be nice.” Treating customers, employees and suppliers right is a philosophy that’s carried the company through to this day.

“Expanding on those values is what carries us and drives us as a business,” Lott said. Building a positive business culture has been a key in making SanMar the leader in its market, he added.

“Having a well-functioning, efficient port that values partnerships and works with customers has been critical to our success.” -Jeremy Lott, SanMar President

Corporate responsibility

Those same values reflect SanMar’s global business practices, which emphasize fair and safe working conditions for workers in foreign-owned factories who make the products SanMar imports.

Over the years of traveling around the world and learning about economic opportunity, especially for women in impoverished countries, Lott said his company strives to use its investments to help change lives.

Examples include everything from a model factory in Ghana — showcased during a recent visit by First Lady Melania Trump — to the renewable energy sources powering a SanMar supplier in Honduras.

The company is accredited by the Fair Labor Association, which operates a factory monitoring program designed to ensure ethical, safe and responsible operations. SanMar also maintains its own compliance team dedicated to the same principles.

SanMar is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which aims to reduce energy consumption and emissions, limit water usage and control waste.

A third of its suppliers have done business with SanMar for over a decade, and those long-term relation-ships help the company to support continuous improvements.

“We made a conscious effort in how we use our sourcing to have a positive impact in the countries we’re in,” Lott said.

Learn more about SanMar.