After months of COVID lockdowns, Canadian promo roared back to life this year. Suppliers and distributors innovated with product and made strategic hiring and acquisition decisions, all while contending with ongoing supply chain challenges. The industry also lost two well-known and beloved veterans; based on the outpouring of condolences from colleagues, both Joshua Lapsker and Cameron MacKenzie have certainly left their mark on Canadian promo for years to come.

Here are the most popular Canadian news stories from ASI Media during 2022.

1

Launching a New Apparel Brand

As part of a special report for Counselor, we looked at the genesis of a brand-new apparel line in the promo industry. Toronto-based Elson Yeung, formerly of Top 40 supplier alphabroder (asi/34063; Canada, 37143), collaborated over the past several years with A+ Career Apparel & Image-Wear (asi/84835) in Burlingame, CA, to launch a revamped professional-wear line, called KNOSS Apparel (asi/65487) after the family that owns A+. Yeung, now the president of KNOSS, and his design team have built a collection of jackets, shirts, polos, quarter-zips and headwear available to distributors. The story was also featured in the Winter 2022 issue of Counselor.

2

Stormtech Introduces New Sustainable Apparel Collection

Top 40 supplier Stormtech Performance Apparel (asi/89864; Canada, 89869) kicked off 2022 by announcing the launch of its Pure Earth by Stormtech line of eco-conscious garments and accessories. The 30 items in the collection, up from 18 when it was first unveiled, are made with polyester sourced from recycled plastic (rPET) and/or cotton certified by the Better Cotton Initiative, and also include Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified hangtags and cartons. The move marked a deepened commitment to sustainability at eco-minded Stormtech, a trend that took hold at companies across the industry this year.

3

Warehouse Shortage in Canada Puts Pressure on Firms

At the midpoint of the year, after months of supply chain headaches and sky-high demand for kitting and fulfillment, Canadian industry companies were hard put to find open warehouse space for inventory. Meanwhile, the little space that was accessible was exorbitantly expensive. In May, the industrial availability rate in Canada was just 2.2%, and it’s continued to fall this year. Suppliers and distributors that require warehouse space have been compelled to pay exorbitant fees and/or use a third-party provider to store product. Now, experts in Canada are asking provincial governments to allow for more-creative use of land to build additional facilities.

4

McCabe Promotional Advertising Acquires Daquin Sales

In July, certified B Corp McCabe Promotional Advertising (asi/264901) in London, ON, announced that it had purchased distributorship Daquin Sales to acquire additional in-house decoration capabilities, specifically silkscreening and embroidery. The team at Daquin, founded 40 years ago this year, joined McCabe, with former owner Mike Depuis retiring after the transition. This follows McCabe’s acquisition of Promomedia Group in 2015, which expanded the company’s presence into both the Ottawa National Capital Region and Quebec markets. McCabe was named Counselor’s 2019 Distributor Family Business of the Year.

5

Spector & Co. Hires Samantha Kates as Chief Sales Officer

Spector & Co. (asi/88660) started the year stong with the hiring of industry veteran Samantha Kates as chief sales officer. Bringing more than two decades of experience to her new role, Kates joined the Montreal-based supplier after stints at Top 40 supplier Charles River Apparel (asi/44620), Fruit of the Loom (asi/84257) and commonsku. Said CEO Rob Spector: “We’re all excited that Samantha has joined the team. She will play a key role as we continue to expand and evolve into the future.” Indeed, in recent weeks, Spector announced that’s opening a new facility near the Las Vegas Strip in order to serve its growing distributor base in the U.S.

6

Fans Can Now Purchase Official Canadian World Cup Merchandise

For the first time in more than 35 years, the Canadian men’s soccer team qualified for the FIFA World Cup after “Les Rouges” defeated Jamaica 4-0 in March. That set off a slew of official celebratory merch, like jerseys with “Oui Can” on the front, as well as Nike headwear and stadium scarves, along with hard goods like decorative street signs and drinkware. Unfortunately, Canada was eliminated at the group stage during the World Cup held in Qatar in November and December, but the creative branded items are still for sale at the team’s official store.

7

Obituary: Joshua Lapsker, Starline Industries

Sadly, the industry lost a long-time member in February when Joshua Lapsker, founder of Starline Industries (asi/89320; Canada, 89213), passed away at age 79. After emigrating to Israel from Russia with his family at age 12, he would swim in local waters and collect timber that had fallen from ships, which he would then sell back on shore. After settling in Montreal, Lapsker went on to found Starline Industries in 1969 and Starline USA in 1992; he filed more than 40 product patents during his career. “We’ll be forever grateful for his impact and look forward to carrying on that innovative spirit for decades to come,” said Brian Porter, Starline’s U.S.-based senior vice president of sales and marketing.

8

Obituary: Cam MacKenzie, Adspec Images

The Canadian industry lost another representative in late November, when Cameron “Cam” MacKenzie of Adspec Images (asi/32125) passed away suddenly at age 61. Several promo friends shared fond memories of working with MacKenzie and spending time with him at industry events over the 20 years since he founded Adspec. Colleague Orest Kostecki said, “to know Cam was to love him – he always had a great smile, an amazing sense of humor and a kind word to say,” and MacKenzie’s family said he had “a larger-than-life personality.”

9

St Regis Group Acquires Clearmount

Two awards and recognition companies in Canada joined forces this year: In the last month of Q4, St Regis Group (asi/84592; Canada, 84595) announced that it had acquired Clearmount (asi/45440). Family-owned Clearmount is now in the process of moving all operations to St Regis’ facility in Markham, ON, though it will retain its independent brand identity, staff and association numbers. “I’m excited to have found such a great home for the Clearmount team,” said David Plummer, the late owner of Clearmount and a member of the PPPC Hall of Fame. “The St Regis brand is a perfect fit for our company.”

10

Mitch Freed Named CEO of Genumark

Top 40 company Genumark (asi/204588), Canada’s largest distributorship, made a major announcement in the first month of the year: Mitch Freed, the son of president and CEO Mark Freed, would be taking the reins as CEO while Mark became executive chairman. Most recently, Mitch had been executive vice president of sales and strategy at Genumark; before that, he was a strategy consultant in KPMG’s Management Consulting Practice and the co-founder and general manager of an experiential entertainment company. He related his career story again in the fall of  this year, when he joined father Mark on Counselor’s Power 50 list for the first time.