ALCHEMY APPAREL

Annual Report 2018

Junior Achievement of Northern New England
GE Ventures 1 Financial Center
Boston, MA 02111
Josh Willig, Mark Grayeck, Sharon Bernstein
 Alchemy Apparel 1
Executive summary

MISSION STATEMENT
Alchemy Apparel aims to provide a platform for local, up-and-coming artists
through featuring their artwork on fresh and exclusive clothing.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Our shirts feature artwork from the local Boston artist community; including Kerin
Patel’s “New York City in Light” and Trisha Obsequio’s “Complementary. ” Com-
plementary features two clasping hands with a ying/yang background. The white
and black contrasts, along with the symbols, represent unity, interdependence, and
peace. Product lines produced to date are 100% cotton, long-sleeved t-shirts (in
small, medium, and large sizes) that feature the signature AA logo on the chest and
an image of artwork on the back.

FINANCIAL RESULTS SUMMARY

Gross Revenue: $4,180.00
Expenses: $2,348.89
Charitable Contribution: $500.00
Net Profit: $1,331.11

JA COMPANY PERFORMANCE SUMMARY STATEMENT

Alchemy Apparel has had a successful first quarter through surpassing sales goals,
carrying out the mission to gain exposure for local artists, and giving back. Most im-
portantly, each member of the team was able to gain invaluable knowledge of busi-
ness through experiential learning. In only thirteen weeks, we were able to launch
our product, sell 209 units, and donate 50% of the proceeds from the Alchemy
Apparel x Trisha Obsequio line to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary 1 Sales 5
Marketing Strategies 2 Leadership 6
Competitive Advantage 3 Financial Results 7
Supply Chain 4 Conclusion 8
 Alchemy Apparel 2
MARKETING STRATEGIES
TARGET AUDIENCE
Our target audience was primarily high school students
from the Greater Boston Area with a taste for comfortable,
street style.

The marketing department of Alchemy Apparel has

been a cog within the company to help our brand and
mission grow and progress forward in the future. We
used popular social media platforms to help inform and
promote the company, such as Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, and Youtube. By using these platforms, we
interacted with consumers about potential products and
ideas by launching competitions and polls. Our goals to
increase followers were to have mostly word of mouth and
physical advertisements to bring attention the company.
Succeeding in this goal, we have definitely taken
advantage of bringing consumers together and further
advancing our message within social media users.

Instagram was our primary area of success.

Our posts varied from advertisement posters
to photo shoot content to artwork pieces all
the way to short, artistic promotional videos.
We posted at least a few times a week to keep
our followers engaged and up to date with our
content.

We were able to utilize our website as not

only a source for sales but also as an outlet
for publicity. Through Wix Website Editor, and
with the advice of a custom website designer,
we were able to create a platform that we are
truly proud of. During the last month that our
website was fully operational, we recorded
more than 1,500 page visits, of which more
than 600 were unique visitors.
 Alchemy Apparel 3
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
ADVANTAGES TO OUR LOGO
The logo for Alchemy Apparel was
designed according to our brand. We
incorporated two A’s in such a way that it
represents the culmination of our company
and the artist in creating this product. The
middle beam connects the two parties
and further shows interdependence. We
managed to incorporate all of this and
link it with our name, alchemy was the
medieval “science” of bringing together
different things and transforming it into
something greater, we bring together the
artist and our company to create unique,
stylish, and comfortable clothing that
helps promote and connect them to their
community.

ADVANTAGES IN THE INDUSTRY

What primarily separates us from similar
clothing brands is our mission. By helping
to promote local artists and connect them
with their communities, we address an issue
that is prominent among our peers. Our
personal connections and closeness to our
target audience also gave us an advantage
in selling, but it wasn’t our only focus. Our
price was carefully calculated to meet the
needs of our intended audience. We kept
our price affordable and accessible to our
target audience at twenty dollars.

SUPPLY CHAIN
To decide on a supplier, our supply chain
team looked into prices, print methods,
print quality, customer service, shipping/
turnaround time, accessibility and location.
We decided on Mass Apparel, a Boston-
based clothing company and print shop. Their
7-10 turnaround time, which we negotiated
down to 5-7, as well as easy accessibility
outweighed the lower costs of overseas
wholesalers. We decided on using screen
printing to keep our shirts affordable. For shirt
model, we decided on the Gildan G240 Long
Sleeve shirt for its affordable prices, comfort,
and 100% preshrunk quality cotton.
Alchemy Apparel 4
Our supply chain team also assumed the
jobs of shipping and packaging. For less
than ten cents per shirt, we package each
shirt in a clear polyethylene bag, with a
note from the artist and sticker.
To ship, we use United States Postal
Service First Class, for its fast delivery and
low prices for lightweight items. We print
labels ourselves, and use poly mailers to
package. Although we have only needed
to ship less than 10% of our orders, we are
prepared.

The supplier’s nearby location meant that

we could visit the store ahead of placing
any orders, as well as maintain email, text
message and face-to-face communication.
Once they were in our hands, each of the
shirts were inspected for quality, and of those,
two did not pass. We received a refund for
both shirts within a week.

Originally, our inventory management system

was hard to follow and resulted in losing the
whereabouts of one shirt. Immediately, the
system was simplified into a pivot table of the
sales spreadsheet, so salesmen only needed
to record sales once.

Although we had our supplier send images

of an example print, the first hundred shirts
had a print that was darker than anticipated.
To prevent it from happening again, we setup
stronger communications with the supplier,
and asked them to create an entirely new
screen to make sure the next line of the shirts
were as we expected.
 Alchemy Apparel 5
SALES
The sales department of Alchemy Apparel
targeted a very wide demographic that
mainly consisted of teenagers and young
adults. We reached out to our target
audience through social media, our
website, friends, and family. Earlier this
year, we reached out to artists all around
Massachusetts through social media,
posters, and friends, and asked them to
submit artwork for our first competition.
The piece of artwork with the most votes
was chosen to be featured on our clothing.
When the winner of the competition was
decided, we created our first edition:
Alchemy Apparel x Kerin Patel.

For the first two editions of our shirts, we

took to social media and word of mouth
to sell. Ultimately, we sold the majority of
our shirts to students at local high schools.
While for these first two editions selling
by hand was efficient, we also used our
website to generate additional sales.
Our company is scalable because of the
wide effect of the mission. Although
currently we have only been promoting
artists from Massachusetts, we would like
to expand on the word “local,” and have it
symbolize more than just our home state.
In addition, the sales department promotes
exclusivity in order to further attract the
audience through the limited edition
clothing lines.

In addition to spreading the word through social media, we hope to increase awareness
about our company as well as sell more shirts by reaching out to newspapers with a larger
reach to new demographics for advertisements.
 Alchemy Apparel 6
LEADERSHIP

ALCHEMY APPAREL
CORPORATE STRUCTURE
Sarah Ly
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Financial Officer

Kristopher Dacosta Ludovico Rollo Thomas Garity

Chief Marketing Chief Commercial Chief Operating
Officer Officer Officer

Vincent Hock
Zada Stuart Shaelyn Fitzgerald
Jack Tang Rick Li
Eileen Melkonian Shahil Patel Supply Chain Team Finance Team
Legacy Davis Sales Team
Marketing Team

The Alchemy Apparel leadership team was initially chosen by the mentors after observing
the work done by members in each individual department. The CEO was then later elected
at the halfway point based on the overall contributions to the company and leadership skills
demonstrated in order to more quickly finalize decisions and maintain organization and
efficiency within the company. Department heads of the four departments organized and
delegated tasks to team members while overlooking the work done under their responsibility.
The teams stayed in constant communication outside of meetings, using email to announce
important tasks or crucial decisions to be made to either individual departments or the team
as a whole. Other modes of communication consisted of texting and even video chatting
when distance or even weather interfered with traditional meetings at the office. The finance
team utilized the People’s United bank account and spreadsheets to keep track of income
and expenses. The supply chain team worked closely with the local supplier for quality
assurance and to allow for frequent inventory restocking. The sales team worked to formulate
our mission statement and pitch and generate as many sales as possible. The marketing team
focused on utilizing social media and web development to build the image of our brand and
reach our audience and scheduled frequent photo shoots to create content on the platforms.
 Alchemy Apparel 7
FINANCIAL RESULTS
Financial Performance
Alchemy Apparel surpassed the initial
financial goal of $2,000, generating over
$4,000 in revenue. Through the $200 startup
capital provided by Junior Achievement of
Northern New England, and by taking out a
separate loan, we were able to purchase our
first batch of products. At this rate, we were
able to break even at 118 units sold. Through
working with the supply chain department
to conduct a careful analysis of pricing for
different suppliers online and in-store, and
selecting a competitive yet affordable price
point for our target demographic, we were
able to retain a 45% gross profit margin
and 32% net profit margin that includes our
donation to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Victims’ Fund.
 Alchemy Apparel 8
CONCLUSION
Liquidation
At liquidation, each of the twelve members of the team received $110.92, and each member
received one shirt. We paid back the loan and the remaining expenses.

Learning Experiences
With the experiential learning opportunities given to us by Junior Achievement, each
member of the team completed the program with more knowledge about their individual
departments. One of the most challenging aspects of the process was making sure that tasks
were delegated and executed properly. Due to the several emails, chats, and texts to keep
up with, team members often struggled to stay on the same page. We were ultimately able
to resolve this issue through making sure the members of each department held themselves
accountable in order to better the company. We learned that in order to have a well-
functioning team, taking in input from all members and mentors was necessary. It was also
crucial for members, especially the leadership team, to apply the feedback received to better
direct the members. These lessons allowed us to become more open minded people overall.
There was also substantial positive change in the manner of professionalism, public speaking,
financial literacy skills, and even confidence level all due to the experiences as a member in
the company. Through working with the incredibly supportive mentors at GE Ventures and
team members from different high schools in the Greater Boston area, each person was able
to grow their passion for entrepreneurship.

Future
During the final meeting, we
collectively decided to continue
the company after liquidation. All
the profits were pooled back for
the finance team to organize, and
we sold the remaining inventory.
We will continue to gather artwork
submissions for more competitions
and launch more limited edition
lines. With the skills and tools
given to us by Junior Achievement
Academy, we are confident that
Alchemy Apparel will continue to
be successful in sales and growth
and more importantly, carry out
the goal to promote artists and
connect them to wider audiences.