The largest supplier in the North American promotional products industry is entering the healthcare apparel space.

Issaquah, WA-based SanMar (asi/84863) said Tuesday, Feb. 2 that it’s partnering with WonderWink to offer that brand’s line of healthcare scrubs. The partnership combines SanMar’s “extensive distribution network and industry expertise with WonderWink’s innovative design, product quality and fashionable styling,” the companies said in a statement.

Jeremy Lott, SanMar

Founded in 1971 and still family-owned, SanMar has grown into an apparel powerhouse, generating an estimated $2.4 billion in North American promo product sales in 2019, good enough to rank the company first on ASI’s most-recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry.

Beyond being big, SanMar has placed a keen focus on sustainability, corporate social responsibility and community service, facts that make the company’s “new position in healthcare apparel … an exciting opportunity to pair its values with a dynamic product line,” executives said.

“We’re thrilled to join forces with WonderWink and supply wholesale healthcare apparel to professionals on the frontlines of the pandemic,” said Jeremy Lott, president of SanMar. “SanMar is proud that we can make a difference, in our own way, for our essential healthcare workers during this critical time.”

SanMar said the retail line of WonderWink scrubs is crafted to provide comfort and style while meeting all functional standards so caregivers can have confidence when treating patients. Designed with healthcare workers in mind, the scrubs include convenient features like breathable fabrics, multiple pockets, pen holders and badge loops.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for healthcare apparel is increasing. Hard numbers back up the assertion. WonderWink is part of Superior Group of Companies. In a third-quarter 2020 earnings report, Superior noted that its “uniform and related products” division, which includes WonderWink, increased Q3 sales 33.2% to $73.23 million.

“From a long-term perspective, we expect that demand for our signature marketing brands, including Fashion Seal Healthcare and WonderWink, will continue to provide opportunities for growth and increased market share,” Superior said in its Q3 report. Q4 numbers weren’t yet available.

“We are proud to partner with SanMar to bring WonderWink, the originator of fit and fashion in scrubs, to a new audience of healthcare professionals,” said Peter Benstock, president of Superior Uniform Group Healthcare, a division of Superior Group of Companies. “We’ve been providing innovative apparel to healthcare heroes for over a century, so this partnership is a natural next step to continue that story of support and reliability.”

The SanMar and WonderWink collaboration will be available April 2021 on sanmar.com.

Superior Group of Companies, a large publicly traded firm, also owns Top 40 distributor BAMKO (asi/131431). BAMKO and WonderWink operate separately as independent divisions. “We will continue to treat BAMKO with the same level of SanMar service as all of our valued customers,” said Lott.

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