Upscale Poker Apparel Idea (1 Viewer)

[Skeeter]

So I'm looking for some feedback from everyone. For a while now, it has bothered me that most poker players tend to dress down while at the casino. The days of wearing a suit into the casino seem to have past. I get it, you want to be comfortable while playing, but why do all the clothes have to look like they just came off the clearance rack at Goodwill or a "Tap Out" t-shirt. With this, I was thinking of starting a higher end brand of apparel for poker players. I'm certain it will not be a hit with everyone, but I was curious as to what everyone here thought.

No wrong answers here, and I haven't invested a dime. Just in the research stage, and who better to ask than you fine folks.

 

[DrStrange]

Is there a reason to think that the market for higher end casual wear is suffering from a lack of vendors / suppliers?

Do you have any reason to think poker player dress as they do: a) from a lack of selection options or b) the cost of better cloths or c) a lack of appreciation for finer cloths? I would be concerned that this market is entirely "rational". They wear what they do because they want to do so.

For me the deciding point is the presence of smoke in the poker room or from anywhere in the building. Nice shirts / pants require dry cleaning. A smoke polluted shirt not only require dry cleaning but it's noxious odor transfers to everything else in my suitcase or closet. I prefer to wear machine washable stuff into smoking areas so I can mash them into a ziplock bag or toss them into the laundry straight off my back.

Please do serious market research before putting a chunk of money into this project. I have the opinion that your customers aren't looking for an upscale option that they can't already find. Their choices are informed and rational. You will need some heavy lifting / promotional effort to crack this market.

My $0.02 -=- DrStrange

 

[gopherblue]

I’m with the Doc. Invest your money in Coca-Cola stock. And reinvest the dividends. You won’t go broke.

 

[upNdown]

I would love to see people dress better at the poker table. I tend toward casual, but never sloppy. If I was in a high profile event, I’d step it up to something approaching business casual.
But all that said, I don’t own any poker clothes. If I was being sponsored, I’d be patched up like a race car. But there’s plenty of clothes in my closet - I don’t need anything new that loudly (or quietly) proclaims that I’m a poker geek.

 

[David O]

So I'm looking for some feedback from everyone. For a while now, it has bothered me that most poker players tend to dress down while at the casino. The days of wearing a suit into the casino seem to have past. I get it, you want to be comfortable while playing, but why do all the clothes have to look like they just came off the clearance rack at Goodwill or a "Tap Out" t-shirt. With this, I was thinking of starting a higher end brand of apparel for poker players. I'm certain it will not be a hit with everyone, but I was curious as to what everyone here thought.

No wrong answers here, and I haven't invested a dime. Just in the research stage, and who better to ask than you fine folks.

I have a close friend of mine that is in sales/part owner of a high end golf apparel company. These clothing is sold in private country clubs only. This would be similar to what you would be doing since you would have.a select demo to market to. Very tough business with long hours and it takes for ever to get an ROI. Very, very tough industry.

If I did not tel you yet it is a very, very, very tough industry.

David

 

[Jambine]

Is there a reason to think that the market for higher end casual wear is suffering from a lack of vendors / suppliers?

^that^

 

[TheBigTater]

I don't even tend towards casual wear when I'm sitting at a poker table for hours, I tend towards comfort wear and than usually means I'm not going to wear anything that would be considered upscale. Only reason I would possibly wear something upscale would be if the room has a dress code then I would have to consider if I really wanted to play in the game. Even then I would try to slip buy with a sports coat & nice jeans if I could get away with it.

I would say have you seen a casino poker room, not the high stakes area but a regular poker room full of grinders?

I think clientele in the high stakes games with whales playing for larger bankrolls than most of us have would be in the market for that type of clothing. And I think most of those people would already have clothiers working for them or shopping with some established clothing store/line already in everyday life.

Might be tough sledding but I have absolutely no idea on margins for clothing.

Good luck though. :

 

[Skeeter]

Solid feedback from everyone. Like I said, it was just an idea. No money has been put toward it, and after this, there will likely never be any money put toward it. Maybe I will just invest in chips.

 

[DoubleEagle]

3/4 of the players in a casino game look like need a shower. Not you best prospects IMO.