Blankets: Cozy, Comforting, and Calming

While this country continues to deal with the fallout of COVID-19—while continuing to balance career and family—it is clear that the pandemic has impacted the blanket market. Blankets are a universal form of comfort and pleasure, especially during these unprecedented times when cooler temperatures will begin to arrive throughout the nation. Their popularity will continue throughout the remainder of the year.

Jennifer Reese at Pro Towels believes that people naturally have an emotional response to blankets. “With the hectic world we are in with COVID, an election year, and more frequent natural disasters, people are looking for some comfort, ways to relax, and shut off the outside noise,” she comments. “A blanket can evoke those feelings of relaxation and comfort and give someone a way to help recharge after a long day.”

The blanket category has been the fastest growing category at Brentwood for the last several years, according to Lance Price. “We are seeing that our customers are wanting a variety of the ‘softer’ style blankets such as Sherpa-style blankets and coral-fleece blankets. We think the driving force is because the soft feel of fabrics is hot now—the sheets for your bed, throws for the couch, everything you touch has a softer hand to it.”

While Price acknowledges that the pandemic has resulted in a slight decrease in sales, he adds the company has noticed a dramatic uptick in sales in August and September. “We are hopeful we can carry that momentum through the remainder of the year!” he states. 

Pro Towels’ Reese at reports that the company’s Pro Vision sublimated blankets are trending. “Customers are looking for unique designs, pictures and blankets that fit their brand’s style,” she states. “Our Pro Vision sublimation offers all of this and allows for a nice low minimum (only one piece), so there isn’t a huge commitment!” She says that demand is very high. “With everyone working from home and spending way more time in their homes than normal, buyers are looking for ways to engage with their employees and clients in the home,” she states. “What a great way to do it by offering a promotional blanket. Take a load off, relax, and get comfortable in these times! A blanket is the right item for this and perfect for all demographics.”

Individual packaging and drop ships have been a frequently requested service this year for obvious reasons, Grethe Adams at Southern Plus notes. “It’s really taken off in the past three to four weeks we’ve entered the fall season and companies have started shopping for holiday gifts,” she says. “This year, in particular, the cozy warmth of a blanket will particularly resonate with employees and customers. Most are spending more time at home than ever before or when possible, head outdoors for social distanced activities. Either way, a warm blanket is very apropos and will likely leave an even longer lasting impression due to the unusual and challenging year we’ve had. I think gifts that convey comfort in some way will be particularly well-received this year and I would suggest leaving ‘productivity’ type of gifts for another time.”

Suppliers are rolling out some cozy blanket options while relying on best-sellers. “Our Sherpa blanket (BKVS) is the newest addition to the line and the response has been fantastic,” Brentwood’s Price affirms. “The top seller is our BKCF. This is a super soft, coral fleece that is 50” x 60” and comes in a clear pouch. This item presents very well as a gift.” Other top sellers at Brentwood include stadium blankets, picnic blankets, sweatshirt blankets, and Sherpa blankets.

Sublimated blankets continue to be best sellers at Pro Towels. “It was always the lambswool blankets in the past, but since last year the sublimated styles have quickly taken over the top slot for us,” Reese comments. “The lambswool is still a highly sought-after blanket and would probably be our number two.”

Among the fall favorite at Southern Plus are its 9022 Southern Plush and the 9026 Alpaca. “These premium blankets will convey a message of care, comfort and family time—a message that’s very much needed and welcomed these days,” Adams notes.

While promoting blanket may seems like a no-brainer, Adams of Southern Plus suggests combining a blanket with one of the company’s newly launched, stainless steel drinkware options for a custom gift that will impress! “Create your own theme with your blanket and drinkware combo of choice: 9026 Alpaca blanket with DW1185 Java Mug for camping/outdoors theme, 9027 Southern Plush with DW111186 for an elegant gift, the 9003 Sherpa Blanket Buffalo Plaid with DW1189 for the man cave—just to mention a few possibilities!” she enthuses.

Price at Brentwood recommends focusing on the universality of blankets. “We have seen great success with hospitals, nursing homes, and schools,” he concludes. “The blanket category is gender and age-neutral, so it makes it a great item to show any customer that has a diverse and large group of people to purchase for.”

Case Studies

Jennifer Reese, Pro Towels

TexasBit is a large construction company that is strongly committed to safety within their company. The company involves their family within many aspects of their business and one area they were planning to get the families involved in was safety. When they planned to launch the safety program, they were looking for a promotional item that every family member could use but also feel like they had a part in. The spouses of the employees at TexasBit are on their safety board and take great pride in providing a safe workplace for family members. Every single child, mother, father, and spouse signed their names on the blanket along with the employees. What a powerful way to say to each and every employee, “Be safe when you go to work!” and have it be heard. An employer can tell you that every day but when your family is in the back of your mind telling you this, it’s more personal and goes further. This item has become a part of their safety program the last three years and has been reordered annually.

Gamma Realty sells high-end homes and real estate, and when they close on a home, they’re looking to make a splash. The SUB-12 FOTO Vision™ Beach Towel, FOTO Vision™ Plush Throw & Keepsake Box provides a great personalized keepsake that everyone will keep even after they move from their home. This type of personal gift helps Gamma retain their client base for years to come. They use a high-quality image of the home and puts it on a blanket or if the buyer has a pool at their new home, they will do a beach towel. Gamma also inserts these into the company’s Keepsake Box and pairs it with a bottle of wine and a gift card to Best Buy to give them a few nice gifts that all come in handy when moving into a new home.

Lance Price, Brentwood

A custom holiday project for a large hospital system allowed us to use our BLSTD (stadium blanket) along with a COOLFL (12-can cooler) in a custom imprinted box. The project was approximately 9,000 units. We were able to customize the carry handle on the blanket as well as provide a custom imprinted interior fleece. We managed the manufacturing between the cooler factory, blanket factory and the box factory to get all the pieces to one location for boxing. 

Another custom holiday project was completed for a dairy farm that liked our MXBKT (ultimate stadium blanket) which is stocked with a black and white checked pattern fleece interior. However, they had the vision of the fleece being a “spotted cow pattern”. We were able to create the pattern for the customer and imprint the fleece accordingly to provide the desired look.