BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 13, 2013 Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 I visited the Shelby Museum again in Las Vegas at the race track as I do often since I live in Las Vegas and I was looking at all the shirts they have. None have any Dodge Shelby vehicles. All Mustangs, I know Ford is more prevelent than Dodge but it would be nice to get some clothing items for sale in the gift shop. There is more than enough Ford items. 3 Dodge Shelby vehicles last week in the museum and they look GREAT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 I visited the Shelby Museum again in Las Vegas at the race track as I do often since I live in Las Vegas and I was looking at all the shirts they have. None have any Dodge Shelby vehicles. All Mustangs, I know Ford is more prevelent than Dodge but it would be nice to get some clothing items for sale in the gift shop. There is more than enough Ford items. 3 Dodge Shelby vehicles last week in the museum and they look GREAT! While one can never say never, it all comes down to "will it sell". Also keep in mind that SAI can not use Chrysler names or logos without a licensing agreement from Chrysler. As you know SAI has a close relationship with Ford who may not like the idea of SAI promoting a competitors brand. Its not always as easy as it may seem. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 Thats surprising to hear considering that Shelby Dodges are still around. They still have Chrysler names and logos on them. I would think a licensing agreement would be in place as long as the vehicles are around. Maybe I can find some old stock shirts. I understand the thing with Ford. Its all about the almighty dollar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 Licensing agreements are not lifetime contracts, most if not all have an agreed upon time frame. While we do have the use of Shelby owned model names like the Shelby GLHS we do not have the right to use other names/logos like Chrysler, Dodge, Lancer, Dakota, Daytona, Charger, etc. But back to the question, "will it sell"? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 I think they would sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glhs0075 Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 I would buy it. It won't sell if it's not produced. Going to the Shelby factory and seeing nothing but Shelby Ford merchandise just fuels the "Shelby worked with Dodge!?" phenomena. It's part of SAI's history, and shouldn't be ignored because of current partnerships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 I agree with Stephen. I am sure since there are many Shelbys that bear the Chrysler logo, Dakota name, Lancer name, Daytona and Charger name I can't see why a license agreemant can't be worked out with the Chrysler Corp. This to me would be beneficial to both SAI and Ford. I know Ford and Chrysler are foes but like Stephen said, Dodge is part of SAI history. Of course I know business is business also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 Steve, all I am really saying is it would be neat to wear a shirt that sports a Shelby Dakota! Thats all I was really getting at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 My personal approach is to celebrate Shelby. Not Shelby FORD, or DODGE, or OLDSMOBILE, just plain "Shelby". And you will all see lots of THAT in the upcoming weeks and months... Jer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 I understand that, I was just saying that with all the Shelby Mustang shirts in the gift shop that it would be nice to see a few Shelby Dodge shirts and jackets like they had in the late 80's in the catalog but Steve explained it. I do think they would sell. It was just an observation I had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyDodgeFan Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 I understand that, I was just saying that with all the Shelby Mustang shirts in the gift shop that it would be nice to see a few Shelby Dodge shirts and jackets like they had in the late 80's in the catalog but Steve explained it. I do think they would sell. It was just an observation I had. Here you are: http://www.cafepress.com/dd/444890 I have read that supposedly these are authorized by SAI, but I haven't seen any confirmation that it is true. Perhaps Steve could shed some light on the Shelby-Dodge CafePress merchandise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Wow, thats what I was looking for. Interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyDodgeFan Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Here are some more links to additional Shelby-Dodge merchandise on CafePress: http://www.cafepress.com/shelbydakota http://www.cafepress.com/glhs http://www.cafepress.com/87glhs http://www.cafepress.com/89csx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne in NJ Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Those (CafePress merchandise) ARE nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Here you are: http://www.cafepress.com/dd/444890 I have read that supposedly these are authorized by SAI, but I haven't seen any confirmation that it is true. Perhaps Steve could shed some light on the Shelby-Dodge CafePress merchandise. Most if not all CafePress Shelby Dodge merchandise is not autorized by Shelby nor has a license from Shelby Licensing to produce these items. Thru the years I've seen some of these CafePress items in person and the quality is pretty bad. In fact several years back I was retained as an expert witness by a eBay buyer who purchased some 2.2 Chrysler items off eBay that were represented as original factory items. The buyer won their case. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertlane Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 I did look into producing Shelby Dodge merchandise a while back and Chrysler and I both concluded that SDAC should get the nod to produce such. SDAC turned down the opportunity with Chrysler before discussions actually took place. SDAC was simply not interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 I did look into producing Shelby Dodge merchandise a while back and Chrysler and I both concluded that SDAC should get the nod to produce such. SDAC turned down the opportunity with Chrysler before discussions actually took place. SDAC was simply not interested. It all comes down to the bottom line and I suspect SDAC reached the same conclusion, the investment needed is not worth the return. This does not only apply to Shelby Dodge apparel but to Shelby Dodge parts & accessories. The market is just not there. All though the Shelby Dodge enthusiasts are die-hard enthusiasts, there just isn't enough of them out there. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glhs0075 Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 I did look into producing Shelby Dodge merchandise a while back and Chrysler and I both concluded that SDAC should get the nod to produce such. SDAC turned down the opportunity with Chrysler before discussions actually took place. SDAC was simply not interested. Perhaps with the new SDAC leadership, they might be willing to take a second look at this. *insert JT poke* I'm glad to hear that you looked into it though, Robert. Thank you. And I have to agree with SMS on the quality of Cafe Press merchandise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdac guy Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 The guys wantng shirts generally have no idea on what it takes in investment. Just to do the 7 Whittier vehicles in 5 sizes each is 35 different shirts/sizes to stock. 10 of each size would be 350 shirts. But because there are only 50 of each design, the production cost per shirt would be $12-15. So lets say $12, 12 times 350 is $4200 to get the 7 Whittier vehciles in stock. We would need to sell them for at least $20 each (including shipping) to make it worthwhile. Okay, we add them to the website online store, advertise them in the newsletter, advertise them on here and other forums. We get a flurry of orders, we sell out of a couple sizes in a few of them, and we only sell a couple shirts total of a couple of other vehicles. After the first year, we are still sitting on 275 shirts. We coontinue to promote them everywhere we can, and during the next year we sell another 50 shirts. After that, the sales drop off dramatically seemingly no matter what we do. We finally get tired of tripping over the boxes of shirts and do a 'fire sale' on them at 10 each plus shipping. We sell 125 of the remaining shirts and are still left with 100 shirts. Its time to look at the return on investment. We sold 125 at 20 bucks each for $2500 (but since shipping was included that ate about $300), then we sold 125 at $10 each for another $1250. So we netted $3450 on an original $4200 investment. And we have 100 odball sizes and vehicles left over. We start giving them away at the annual conventions. Finally thay are all gone and we only lost about $750 on the whole thing. A few years later someone on a forum comments on the lack of these types of shirts ..... The above scenario didn't really happen, but it is darn close to what I experienced in my 12 years of managing SDAC. For the annual conventions during that time, I probably ordered a total of 3000-3500 shirts. Over the years, I had a number of 'fire sales' to get rid of shirts that had not sold, and gave away dozens of event shirts at the conventions. And when I gave the club to the new management team I think I gave them about 150 or so shirts. Incidentally many of the shirts folks would like with their cars on them are still available on the SDAC website at the SDAC Online store. They may be event shirts,but we tried to have every Shely produced/inspired Dodge on them over the years Another way to do it, is for folks to decide to place an order indepeendantly and get together for a "group buy". They decide on shirt design(s) and get a quote from a screen printing service, then they promote a sign up list for the shirts. Folks are on the honor system that they will pay for what they ordered. The exact number of shirts needed are then produced and distributed. There were some GLHS shirts done this way on another forum a year or so ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Barry has great insight on this as he's been in the trenches as president of SDAC and has probably ordered & sold more SD apparel than anyone else since Shelby Automobiles closed up shop. Although I wouldn't trust the "honor system" to work as expected. Too many times I've seen people say they would buy something if available but when it comes time to reach for their wallet, for some reason too many just fail to follow thru. I know the two largerst Shelby Dodge vendors have both taken hits on bringing a part to market only to see the item sit on their shelf. And this isn't isolated to Shelby Dodge enthusiasts. I've watched the same thing happen to other niche performance vehicles. As they say, it is what it is. I've accepted it a long time ago. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Wow, I didn't realize the responses would be like this. I am well aware of investment in shirts like this and I agree as mentioned before about Shelby Dodge enthusiasts being few and far between and as the years go by more and more vehicles are gone to the crusher. I just thought it would be cool to have a shirt but I understand the economics of it all. Now if the value would just go up on the vehicles that are left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobsShelbyDakota Posted January 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Thanks for all the replies, interesting thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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