A true-crime podcast duo decided to launch a coffee company in 2022. Soon after, their loyal fan base started asking for branded merch.

Crime Weekly hosts Stephanie Harlowe, a seasoned true-crime podcaster in upstate New York, and Derrick Levasseur, a former law enforcement officer in Rhode Island, started Criminal Coffee Co. nearly a year ago with an important mission: to give back to families, communities and organizations in need of financial assistance to investigate and prevent crime.

The company offers three different fair-trade roasts, provided by a local Rhode Island roaster that sources beans from all over the world, including Central America, South America and Africa.

Harlowe and Levasseur announced the launch of the Criminal Coffee Co. merch store in this Crime Weekly episode from early February. They also gave a shoutout to J&R Marketing (asi/233046).

Last year, Criminal Coffee enlisted J&R Marketing (asi/233046) in Smithfield, RI, for their digital marketing efforts. When Levasseur stopped by for a meeting, he happened upon J&R’s showroom full of promotional products.

“Their fans had been asking for Criminal Coffee merch,” says J&R Marketing founder Joe Russo. “We decided to put together a virtual storefront linked to the Criminal Coffee site.”

The Altitude knit cap (TW5002) from alphabroder (asi/34063)

Russo advised Harlowe and Levasseur to start conservatively, with just a few products to test the waters.

At the strategy meeting, Russo and his team suggested items. The clients made their selections – including coffee mugs from Nordic Co. Inc. (asi/74245) and sweatshirts and beanies from Top 40 suppliers like SanMar (asi/84863) and alphabroder (asi/34063).

J&R then set up the webstore for free in a pre-order model with limited outlay for the client. Consumers could place their orders during a certain timeframe (for this store, about two weeks), which gave the distributor and its customer an opportunity to gauge reaction and performance of each product. Interestingly, clients were given access to a store dashboard with real-time analytics.

“We had to make sure the products we suggested would work for their brand and audience,” says Russo. “It helps that they have an established fan base already. Also the inventory had to make sense. If something wouldn’t be available for another two months, that wouldn’t work for us.”

The 24-oz. Amigo Coffee Mug (7100) from Nordic Co. Inc. (asi/74245)

This store did so well, with almost 200 orders to the tune of nearly $9,500 in total revenue in the set timeframe, that J&R now plans to keep the store open and change it to an inventory model where they’ll warehouse stock and ship immediately. Plans are in the works to add more items, including seasonal apparel.

“We want to save clients headaches, make it easy for them and limit upfront costs,” says Russo. “This merch is a way to drive people to Criminal Coffee subscriptions and add revenue to their giveback efforts.”

Product Hub
Find the latest in quality products, must-know trends and fresh ideas for upcoming end-buyer campaigns.