Convention swag is a risky business

Here's Luis Liceaga's post-Democratic convention nightmare: a couple of cartons of donkey-decorated T-shirts, size small, unsellable.

"We do not want to be stuck with $100,000 in Philadelphia-themed merchandise," said Norbert McGettigan Jr., his partner at Impact Dimensions L.L.C. - a swag procurement company based in Moorestown.

"It's a very short window," Liceaga said.

Their 22-person company is a minority business that began after one convention in Philadelphia - the GOP in 2000 - and now, due partly to that event, has a contract from another, the Democratic National Convention.

Majority partner Liceaga, who grew up in Puerto Rico and now lives in Gladwyne, owns 51 percent of Impact Dimensions. McGettigan, a white guy from Moorestown, has a 49 percent share.

The story of how Liceaga, 57, and McGettigan, 54, got together to stock pop-up stores and a website with Philadelphia-themed merchandise based on the Democratic convention combines the nuances of minority contracts with the peculiar way that political conventions can affect business dynamics.

Because the political clients are high-profile and picky and because the pace is fast and finite, businesses join forces quickly - more like speed dating than the traditional courtships that grow into long-term contracts.

"You talk about a result of the 2000 convention," McGettigan said.

"And we've been together ever since," Liceaga said.

These men really do finish each other's sentences.

What they're selling now are mugs, playing cards, key chains, campaign buttons, tote bags, and, of course, hats and T-shirts, replete with donkeys, pretzels, and the inevitable Liberty Bell.

For the 2000 GOP convention, that business belonged to McGettigan alone.

His gift company, an offshoot of his father's travel business, landed the contract to make many of the same items - but with elephants instead of donkeys - for the GOP convention.

That's when he got to know Liceaga.

At the time, Liceaga owned an embroidery business in Manayunk stitching company logos on shirts, hats, or tote bags.

"Within our industry, there's a huge emphasis in building a supplier base," McGettigan said.

He hired Liceaga to supply shirts and hats.

They bonded over a last-minute order for 144 orange hats that had to be embroidered with a W, for George W. Bush, and be delivered to convention officials, in less than 24 hours a day before the convention.

"We didn't even have a design for the W," McGettigan recalled. "Luis was a just-in-time vendor. We were working together 14 hours a day."

Both men also became known to convention organizers, some of whom ended up working at Comcast.

Meanwhile, after the convention, Comcast was trying to raise the diversity of its supplier base.

People at Comcast who got to know Liceaga and McGettigan through the convention suggested the men form a minority company with Liceaga as the majority partner, McGettigan said.

Critics of set-asides say contracts should be determined by price and quality, not gender, race, or sexual orientation.

"We're not here because we're minority-owned," Liceaga said. "We're here because we are good at what we do.

"For many years, I didn't get certified because I don't like the stigma that it carries," Liceaga said. "Being a minority company is not an excuse to do subpar work."

Minority or not, the convention swag business is risky.

When McGettigan had the GOP contract, he was supplying three related customers - the George W. Bush campaign team, the Republican national committee, and the Philadelphia Host Committee, each wanting items with a different nuance.

More than half of the revenue came from the Bush items, with the party merchandise and the host committee Philadelphia swag accounting for the balance.

For this convention, the contract is much smaller. Impact Dimensions has only the contract for the host committee.

"We can't use the word Clinton," McGettigan said. "We can't use the word Democrat, but we can use the donkey."

So far, one of the best-selling T-shirts sports the slogan "It's Time" along with a donkey in red high heels and lipstick.

"It's subliminal, and it's selling very well," McGettigan said.

Meanwhile, the two men bicker amiably about how many shirts they should print, knowing that time is running out.

McGettigan would rather err on the side of printing more, worried about losing sales if shelves on pop-up stores go empty. Liceaga doesn't want any stock left over at the end.

"The uncertainty drives you," Liceaga said, barely finishing his words before McGettigan chimed in:

"The margins are high and the risks are high," he said. "It's an adrenaline rush."

jvonbergen@phillynews.com

215-854-2769@JaneVonBergen

www.philly.com/jobbing

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What: Moorestown company with $8 million in revenues, that supplies merchandise with logos for companies, events, and now, PoliticalFest.

Employees: 22, plus 15 more for convention.

Pop-up store spots: Comcast Center concourse, through Aug 5; Convention Center until July 27.

Website: www.phldncshop.com.

Sourcing: Everything is U.S. made.

DNC Dollars: Sold more than $300,000 worth of volunteer T-shirts, also 50,000 lanyards, totes.

Goal: $300,000 more in sales of shirts and swag.

Interesting: Local artists made designs - Seun Olubodun, Brett Bender, Lisabeth Weber, Michael Fulkerson, Dom Streater, Dan Duffy, Lindsey Strippoli.

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