Operating a turnkey merchandise store for an iconic Canadian brand
We run this client's entire merchandise business: sourcing products, managing the online store, shipping every order, and sharing the revenue back.
Their brand. Our storefront, warehouse, and phone line.
One of Canada's most recognized national transportation brands carries real emotional weight with the Canadian public. People want to wear it, carry it, and display it. That creates a genuine merchandise opportunity, but running an e-commerce store is a full-time business, and it is not this client's core competency.
They did not want a licensing deal where a third party slaps their logo on generic products. They needed someone who would care about the brand as much as they do, and actually run the merchandise side of things so their internal team never has to think about it.
So we run their entire public-facing branded merchandise store as a turnkey operation. The client provides brand guidelines and approvals. We do the rest: product concepts, sourcing, photography, the online store, fulfillment, customer service, and last-mile delivery. Our ownership has been in e-commerce for close to two decades, and that experience is baked into how we run this program.
| Client | A major national transportation provider |
| Program | Public-facing branded merchandise e-commerce store |
| Our role | We are the merchandise business: sourcing, store, fulfillment, customer service |
| Model | Revenue-sharing with shared investment |
| Coverage | Nationwide across Canada |
What running the whole business looks like
Most promotional product companies take an order and decorate a product. We are running a retail merchandise business on behalf of this brand, and the scope goes well beyond decoration.
Product development and sourcing
We identify, source, and develop every product in the store. That means researching trends, selecting base products from vetted suppliers, specifying decoration methods, and producing samples for client approval. Nothing comes from a generic catalog; the merchandise line is built specifically for this brand.
We work closely with the client to keep the merchandise fresh, introducing new products based on sales data and customer demand, and retiring items that underperform. Things that sell get reordered. Things that don't, we pull.
Product photography and listing
Every product is professionally photographed and listed with descriptions that match the brand's voice. This is a public-facing store representing an iconic Canadian brand, so the product pages need to look the part. We take each product from sample through to published listing.
E-commerce platform management
We manage the online store: product pages, pricing, inventory levels, promotions, and the checkout experience. When the platform needs updates, configuration changes, or troubleshooting, our team handles it. The client never has to log into the backend.
Order fulfillment and shipping
When a customer places an order, we process it, pick and pack the items in our Ontario facility, and ship it anywhere in Canada. Every order gets branded packaging, a quality check, and correct items confirmed before it goes out. We run the same fulfillment process here that we run for all our managed programs.
Customer service
Customers who buy from the store contact us (not the client) when they have questions about orders, sizing, shipping, or returns. We are the face of this operation to the public, and we take that seriously.
A revenue-sharing partnership, not a vendor contract
The client does not buy products from us and resell them. We share the investment in inventory, split the profits, and reinvest from the revenue the store generates.
On their end, the client reviews revenue reports, approves new products, and sets the brand direction. On ours, we run the operations, track the financials, and keep the business moving day to day. The client is not managing a warehouse, hiring fulfillment staff, or fielding customer inquiries. That is all us.
The client's side
The client provides brand guidelines and logo assets, approves products and collections, and sets the direction when it is time to develop new lines. That is it. Everything else is on us.
Our side
- We source, develop, and sample every product in the catalog
- Photography, listing copy, and creative production for the store
- Running the e-commerce platform day to day
- Inventory investment, warehousing, and reorder management
- Every order picked, packed, and shipped from our facility
- Customer service, returns, sales reporting, and revenue sharing
Why this is not a typical promotional products project
Taking an order and decorating a product is a task. Running the store, the stock, and the strategy is a business.
We manage the inventory. We make the purchasing decisions, manage reorder points, and track every dollar through a shared ledger. Stock levels, reorder timing: that is all on us.
Every customer who visits the store or receives a package is interacting with our team. If we ship a bad box, the public blames the brand, not us. That is the deal, and we run the operation accordingly.
We also drive the merchandising strategy. We do not wait for the client to tell us what to stock. We look at sales data, spot trends, develop new product lines, and bring recommendations for approval. If you run a retail merchandise program, you have to think like a retailer.
Many products are decorated on demand. Instead of pre-printing hundreds of units and hoping they sell, we stock blank base products and decorate them with embroidery or print when an order comes in. Less waste, leaner inventory, and more variety on the store without the risk of sitting on decorated stock that never moves.
This partnership did not happen overnight; it is built on performance and trust, and the kind of brand familiarity you only get from working together over time.
What we handle for this one client
We operate both the public merchandise store and a separate private employee rewards program for this client. These are the public store's own numbers since it launched in fall 2025, managed from our Ontario facility.
Add the employee rewards program and this one client passes 1,800 orders and nearly 24,000 items shipped, all from one facility. These two programs run alongside school spirit wear stores, managed employee and corporate merchandise stores, and custom kitting projects. One team handles all of it.