Cafes: Ordering Hoodies in Bulk
By The Velocity Wear Team
Cafes order hoodies at 50 pieces per design, from $31 a piece, built in 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval. Almost no independent cafe employs 50 people, so the real question is not whether you can meet the minimum but what the surplus is for: staff turnover cover, a shelf item for regulars, or both.
A cafe has six staff, so what happens to the other 44?
Three sensible destinations. Twelve or so go to the current team at two each, which keeps everyone in clean kit on a laundry day. A block of ten to fifteen sits as joiner stock in the middle sizes, and in a sector with this much turnover that stock gets used faster than owners expect. The remainder goes on a shelf by the till at a retail price. A cafe with regulars can shift hoodies, especially one with a name and a logo people like, and the retail margin on those pieces offsets a good share of the total order. Decide the split before ordering, because the retail portion needs a wider size range than the staff portion does.
How does a hoodie sit with aprons and tees?
It layers over the tee and under the apron, and the apron is the constraint. A bib apron covers the whole chest, which means a chest logo on the hoodie is invisible for most of a shift. Put the mark on the sleeve or high on the back instead, where an apron strap does not cross it. On weight, a barista working next to a steam wand does not want 450 GSM fleece: the 280 to 320 GSM end of the range is right for indoor work, and it dries overnight, which matters when each person only has two. Keep the heavier weight for anyone serving from a hatch or a street window.
What happens when staff leave?
The kit walks, and that is fine as long as you planned for it. Cafes that buy exactly to headcount end up placing a second 50-piece order within a year, paying the entry-tier price twice. The joiner stock is the fix. Hold it in the sizes that fit the most people, keep it somewhere it will not get used as a spill cloth, and set a level at which you reorder rather than waiting for the shelf to empty. A fresh run is 10 to 15 working days from approval plus delivery, which is a long time to have a new starter in their own clothes.
What does the order cost and how do you price the retail pieces?
The 50-piece from-price is on the wholesale hoodies page, and quantity is the only lever, with the discount reaching up to 35% off that rate at the top tier. For the shelf pieces, work from the landed cost per piece including decoration and delivery, then set a price that clears within a season rather than one that maximises per unit. Slow retail stock ties up the space by the till. The rest of the hospitality kit list, including what to run alongside the hoodie, is on the restaurants and hospitality page, and the timing logic for any dated run is in apparel production lead times explained.
