S05.E11: TankFarm & Co

[Amarsir]

Quote

A California-based apparel company, owned by two brothers, struggles after expanding to multiple locations.

Marcus must want another t-shirt designer since Dilascia imploded. But I predict this won't go well for him. If the bossy brother was so obnoxious that both office workers wanted to quit, there's no way he's just going to turn around on that.

[sarthaz]

Marcus can't get 15 minutes into the show without lying. "My first offer is always my best offer." Except for the times when it wasn't.

[BusyOctober]

I have worked for giant whiney man babies like Bossy Pants Little Big Man before.  They do not change. Good luck with reining in John's Napoleanic complex, Marcus.   If Val & Amy are good employees maybe Marcus can give them offeres in one of his other businesses.

In addition to the money for the new store, supplies, equipment, etc., I hope Marcus invest a little bit for a subscription to "ABC Mouse.com" for Mike so he can learn to spell.

As a woman who's husband thinks getting dressed up means putting on a shirt without a Red Bull/NASCAR/Case/John Deere logo on it, I seldom shop in these kinds of men's "bro-tiques".  So, I would never pay $40- $100 for yet another logo or graphic screen print emblazoned tee-shirt.  I don't care how great the "quality" is.  

[Showthyme]

It is truly amazing how many people do not spell check before submitting their final product. Bossy Pants Little Big Man has a reason to not trust his wimpy brother. It appears that he rushes through his work. You only have one opportunity to make a good first impression and he failed.

The cancer story was sad. Tragedy can and does tear families apart. I am going through it as I write this. My otherwise close-knit family is no longer. It will never be the same.

$80 for a high-end t-shirt. No. 

[Amarsir]

My good/better/best price points on a t-shirt are $5, $10, and $20. So maybe their low-end could pass for my high-end, but that's about it.

[atlantaloves]

Guys, those clothes were butt ugly!

[ae2]

I don't believe it was the graphic tees that were in the "better" and "best" categories, but polos and button ups and flannels. All their graphic tees seemed to be the "good" category at $30.

(Those are all still way out of my price range. $30 is about my limit for a dress shirt, most of my clothing was bought on clearance at Kohls or JC Penny.)

Did Marcus say that having a product line in your store with your store name makes it look like a generic product? I... don't think that applies to clothing companies. Does it? 

I don't understand why someone would buy a shirt or a hat with a giant Tankfarm & Co. logo on it?

[Amarsir]

21 hours ago, ae2 said:

Did Marcus say that having a product line in your store with your store name makes it look like a generic product? I... don't think that applies to clothing companies. Does it? 

I think he did, and you're right. At Kroger a can of peas labeled "Kroger" brand would indicate cheap and generic. At a Nike store a Nike product would indicate I'm standing in an outlet.

[Moose135]

15 hours ago, Figster said:

Marcus should've just invested with the sons' dad.  The dad had the only truly profitable business going.  The T-shirt business was going nowhere.  Seems like 2 talentless sons leeching off of their father's success.  Dad was running a successful business, then the 2 sons used his money to start their own (failing business).  Why does Marcus bother with these 2 losers?

I thought the larger design/merchandising company (Anderson Brothers) was doing well - $300K net on $1.7 million revenue last year, if I remember.  It was the two retail stores that were barely breaking even, and were a drag on the larger company.  Closing one store and reducing the second to a small store-front on their office space reduced that drain, and let them focus on the areas where they were being successful.  It also helped reduce some of the tension between the brothers, so they can continue to build the business.  I didn't see where their father was supporting them, they were sending work to the father's business.

[Gregg247]

Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought the brothers owned the 2 stores AND the printing business, and Dad was simply running the printing business for them (it was part of "Anderson Brothers", after all).  I know the family had been in the printing business for 3 generations, but I assumed Dad was now semi-retired and working for the boys.  For that reason, Marcus was willing to buy all of Anderson Brothers (the 2 stores and the printing business) for one low (and then, lower) price from the brothers.

[sarthaz]

5 hours ago, Amarsir said:

I think he did, and you're right. At Kroger a can of peas labeled "Kroger" brand would indicate cheap and generic. At a Nike store a Nike product would indicate I'm standing in an outlet.

And if it's a clothing boutique, I'd think "This is their core product, the whole reason I came into this random shop in the first place." Marcus highlights something I hate about business, though: "branding". That hair salon episode where he renamed the product, changed the color of the bottle, and proclaimed it a more expensive luxury item was the best example of it.

[healthnut]

I’m bored of the clothing stores. 

[peppergal]

So am I the only one who's initial knee jerk reaction to the Tankfarm name assumed they sold mostly tank tops before the episode aired?

[Ray Adverb]

13 hours ago, healthnut said:

I’m bored of the clothing stores. 

Me too.  Every time I see that the business is in the fashion space I think "not... again...."  Clothing just seems so utterly oversaturated.

[qtpye]

13 hours ago, peppergal said:

So am I the only one who's initial knee jerk reaction to the Tankfarm name assumed they sold mostly tank tops before the episode aired?

 

15 hours ago, healthnut said:

I’m bored of the clothing stores. 

 

2 hours ago, Ray Adverb said:

Me too.  Every time I see that the business is in the fashion space I think "not... again...."  Clothing just seems so utterly oversaturated.

All of it is also the same hipster fratboy,"I'm such a special snowflake" shit that is clogging dying malls all across the country. Nothing is innovative. Even though it is out of style now, Grunge Wear was quite cutting edge for its time as a response to the over the top excess of the eighties. People actually got fired in some of the fashion houses for putting out clothes that looked like trash. To me, all of Marcus's clothing lines are indicative of an older person desperately trying to figure out what the young people are wearing these days without understanding why.

[Amarsir]

I saw an interesting post from someone on reddit I thought I'd copy here:

 

Quote

I’m familiar with the brand and their shops as I live near by. Marcus was spot of with Tankfarm and how it was weird having that private label next to other 3rd party brands while the name on the building had Tankfarm on it. He mentioned something about it seeming generic. I thought that same thing when I first went to their shop.

The closed down shop in Huntington Beach was straddled with high rent, opening in a new concept mall that hadn’t reached popularity yet, a very seasonal crowd in that area (its open air mall near beach , totally dead in the winter), and a lot of high priced items. Their own private label shirts @2 for $40 or 50 (cant remember) was the cheapest thing in there. It was cool looking, having motorcycles and old school memorabilia everywhere.

Now their shirts, I’m not a fan of graphic tees. I hate logos on my shirts and stuff that was a bit to “im proud of being from SoCal/California/I ride motorcycles Scene” but the material and cut was on point. Best feeling and fitting t shirts ever.

[sarthaz]

On 6/13/2018 at 12:24 AM, sarthaz said:

Marcus can't get 15 minutes into the show without lying. "My first offer is always my best offer." Except for the times when it wasn't.

Boom! Two episodes later, his offer goes from 200K for 50% to 350K for 50%. I enjoy this show, but can't handle his double-talk and lying. Makes me distrust everything else he says.

[ae2]

1 hour ago, sarthaz said:

Boom! Two episodes later, his offer goes from 200K for 50% to 350K for 50%. I enjoy this show, but can't handle his double-talk and lying. Makes me distrust everything else he says.

Marcus does plenty of things to annoy me too, but I think this one is pretty harmless. It was just something he said in the moment. Either he actually believes it and believes he's a tougher negotiator than he actually is, or he said it just to push the deal a little harder, or he didn't really mean "always." (People always use absolutes in everyday speak when we don't really mean them.)

I don't see it as an deliberate lie or something that he thought about too deeply.

[sarthaz]

1 minute ago, ae2 said:

Marcus does plenty of things to annoy me too, but I think this one is pretty harmless. It was just something he said in the moment. Either he actually believes it and believes he's a tougher negotiator than he actually is, or he said it just to push the deal a little harder, or he didn't really mean "always." (People always use absolutes in everyday speak when we don't really mean them.)

I don't see it as an deliberate lie or something that he thought about too deeply.

It bothers me because he's deliberately belittling the person he's negotiating with. He made an offer, the guy expressed reservations, so he made a worse offer. Then the two business partners discussed it and decided to go with the original offer, and Marcus was like, "Whoa, now! My first offer is ALWAYS my best." in a tone that suggested, "How DARE you value your business and take time to discuss it. You are an idiot, and I want you to feel stupid when we walk away from the table." The behavior was bullyish and rude to begin with, but when you layer in the fact that it's not even a little bit true and he makes better offers all the time, then it makes him seem like a royal jerk. In the episode I'm watching now, he's admonishing the owners for using their personal tragedy to sell product after we've seen him recommend that exact same strategy in a half-dozen episodes already. It's the double-talk and the rude way he acts like everyone is an idiot for not knowing when he wants it one way and when he wants literally the exact opposite that drives me nuts.

[Ray Adverb]

49 minutes ago, sarthaz said:

It bothers me because he's deliberately belittling the person he's negotiating with. He made an offer, the guy expressed reservations, so he made a worse offer. Then the two business partners discussed it and decided to go with the original offer, and Marcus was like, "Whoa, now! My first offer is ALWAYS my best." in a tone that suggested, "How DARE you value your business and take time to discuss it. You are an idiot, and I want you to feel stupid when we walk away from the table." The behavior was bullyish and rude to begin with, but when you layer in the fact that it's not even a little bit true and he makes better offers all the time, then it makes him seem like a royal jerk. In the episode I'm watching now, he's admonishing the owners for using their personal tragedy to sell product after we've seen him recommend that exact same strategy in a half-dozen episodes already. It's the double-talk and the rude way he acts like everyone is an idiot for not knowing when he wants it one way and when he wants literally the exact opposite that drives me nuts.

I agree.  He seemed to be punishing these guys for not immediately accepting his offer.  It's getting harder and harder to like Marcus.