Counselor’s exclusive ranking of the suppliers with the most revenue in the promotional products industry.

Hit Promotional Products

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Even in a year that saw the majority of companies on the Counselor Top 40 enjoy healthy growth, FL-based Hit – run by CEO CJ Schmidt, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list – had a phenomenal 2022. With a nearly 41% jump in sales, the company grew despite a topsy-turvy economy, hurricanes and even a systems outage earlier this year.

Schmidt attributes the growth to a multitude of factors including new decorating equipment and upgraded processes implemented during the pandemic that streamlined operations – in some cases cutting production time from 30 to 5 days. He also credited hiring top talent, retaining Hit’s salesforce, leaning heavily into e-commerce, maintaining robust inventory levels and gaining market share from competitors on both the hard goods and apparel sides of the business.

Additionally, Schmidt made the commitment to begin extricating Hit’s business out of China, and has leveraged the company’s vast sourcing network and supply chain to tap into countries growing in manufacturing capabilities like Vietnam and Bangladesh.

The company has been steadily growing its roster of brand names and apparel offerings, and made a notable move this summer by forging a strategic partnership with fellow Top 40 supplier Stormtech to offer polos, jackets and other soft goods.

In memory of Hit founder Bill Schmidt Sr., the supplier donates 5% of the proceeds from its AWS collection to some of his favorite charities: Shriners Hospitals for Children, American Cancer Society, Boys Town, Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.