Expect the unexpected in the promotional products industry.
One day, a customer carried six beach towels into Dawsonville, Georgia-based distributor Lanier Goods. The man asked owner Kellie Aucoin if the towels could have names embroidered on them by Friday. Aucoin, whose unofficial job title is “chaos coordinator,” said yes.
A couple weeks later, the man returned, introducing himself as the vice president of marketing for one of the largest nursing home facilities in Atlanta. He anointed Aucoin as “his person” and has become her firm’s top grossing client.
“That skyrocketed us into a whole new realm and has been a wonderful relationship,” Aucoin says. “I told him that we’ve never done anything like this before, but as long as you’re okay with us learning as we go, we’ll make it happen.”
Receiving 2024 PPAI 100 High Marks for Growth, Lanier Goods (PPAI 800945, Standard-Plus) increased revenue by 1,446% from 2020-2023.
“Our customer service has fueled all this growth,” Aucoin says, “and that’s a polite way of me saying I don’t know how to say no. In the beginning, I said yes to everything, but some things weren’t worth our time. We’ve learned along the way and have definitely gotten better at it. But it’s absolutely worth listening to your customer and if it’s something you can help them with, why not do it?”
Two-Time Entrepreneur
Aucoin remains amazed by her firm’s success because when she launched Lanier Goods in 2018, it was supposed to be a hobby.
She had experience with promo, previously serving as the trade show director for a government contractor. Then, after she became a mom, Aucoin and her husband considered starting their own business. Wanting their children to be able to come to work with them, they built, owned and operated a 15,000-square-foot indoor playground in Johns Creek, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
- After six years, their children had outgrown the recreational haven, so they sold the business.
Aucoin dipped her toe back into the corporate world, but quickly realized it wasn’t her cup of tea.
“If I was going to work that many hours, I might as well do it for myself,” Aucoin says. “My dad had recently retired and was looking for something fun to do. We often joked about phrases that would be good on a T-shirt, so [Lanier Goods] was an opportunity for me to spend time with my dad and try something new.”
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Aucoin targeted local schools and booster clubs, providing clients with custom apparel and sports swag. Pivoting to personal protective equipment (PPE) and work-from-home kits during the COVID-19 pandemic, business exploded. In November 2020, Lanier Goods moved from Aucoin’s basement to a 1,000-square-foot warehouse complex.
- The firm doubled its space by the next year, and in January 2023, moved into a place five times that size.
- Because back-to-school season is the firm’s busiest time of the year, staff usually expands from 12 employees to 20 every August.
Giving Back
As a former coach, lead counselor, assistant principal and now principal at North Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, Bob Carnaroli has relied on many distributors for apparel, signage, teacher gifts and more. But working with Lanier Goods over the past five years has been “exceptional in every way.”
“The service, quality, pricing and timeliness of goods delivered is outstanding,” Carnaroli says. “I know I can always rely on getting exactly what I need for my school even at the last minute if needed. Kellie has been a great supporter and business partner of our school, and her commitment to all things NFHS and Raider Nation has been invaluable in so many ways.”
“Schools work best when parents, community and businesses come together for a common cause,” Carnaroli adds, “and our relationship with Lanier Goods has been a major part of our many successes.”
Aucoin says that making an impact in the community has been the root of her firm’s success. She and her staff are always willing to volunteer. Even if a school needs someone to judge a chili contest, she says that her team is decked out in their Lanier Goods apparel and ready to help, give a quote or talk to someone about their marketing needs.
“You get what you put into this industry,” Aucoin says. “We do zero marketing. We don’t even send emails. We’ve always been so busy that we just let word-of-mouth advertising do its work. We can hardly keep up most of the time, but we’re involved in the community.”
“If you do something good for the community,” she adds, “the community will come out in droves to support you, too.”
Game Changer
After nearly a quarter century in promo, Scott Cooper, territory manager at SanMar – the No. 1 supplier in the PPAI 100 – knows when a new distributor is going to be a force in the industry as soon as he walks in the door. That sensation washed over him when he popped into Lanier Goods to drop off a few catalogs and a business card in November 2021.
“I met Kellie and saw her beautiful shop with all her cool apparel (yes, lots of it SanMar) with all of our local high schools, including where my two daughters go, and immediately knew it was a special place,” Cooper says.
“Since that initial meeting, I’ve had the privilege of working with Team Lanier and seen what an amazing job they do. They’ve made investments in all the latest and greatest decorating equipment, a top-of-the-line facility and showroom and, most importantly, the best people you can ask for.”
The camaraderie of the promo industry has been highly beneficial to Aucoin’s business, specifically, leaning on sales reps and vendors, as well as SAGE, OrderMyGear and other resources.
- Lanier Goods has applied to SanMar’s PSST (Pack Separately, Ship Together) program and S&S Activewear’s Contract Decorator Network.
“In the beginning, I wanted to learn how to do it all myself,” Aucoin says. “But by being able to utilize those resources, I’ve forged relationships that I didn’t know were possible. It’s been a game changer when it comes to speeding things up, being more efficient and being correct the first time.
“Lord knows we make lots of mistakes in this industry, and it takes time and money to fix them. When you can measure twice and cut once, that makes a huge difference.”
