When merino wool was relatively unknown, but gaining popularity in the outdoor industry, I saw an opportunity to use technical wool fabrics in non-technical colors and styles. Wool&Prince was one of the first brands to exclusively make merino clothing for everyday wear. Easy to wear colors (instead of saturated technical colors), no visible logos, and simple time-tested construction details. The product resonated. Eight years later you can see the success of “everyday merino” not just by looking at the expansion of our assortment, but at the many brands offering merino clothing.
Offering non-technical merino clothing isn’t a differentiator today like it was when we started in 2013. Below is the “merino shirt” search traffic growth from 2004 to today.
With the merino clothing category, you can see how the market economy works and benefits consumers: Consumers create demand for merino products, and entrepreneurs and existing businesses increase investment and production to meet consumer demand. Businesses innovate on product, price, service, etc. to compete. In the end, consumers win with better prices and more choices.
What does all of this mean for Wool&Prince? We’re focused on innovating and staying ahead of the competition. Everything we do comes down to making the best product and creating unforgettable (positive) customer experiences.
Product
We’re fabric innovators. Almost all our fabrics are custom-made just for us. You won’t find our fabrics anywhere else. We’ve developed long-lasting, trusting relationships with our vendors, and they’re willing to take risks with us on experimental fabrics. And now we’re going an extra step by tracing our wool back to the farm in Australia.
We’re designers. We obsess over design details, colors, and fit. And we love listening to our customers. Some of our best ideas come from you guys!
We’re frugal. We keep our overhead low and pass the savings on to you. Merino shouldn’t be any more expensive than it already is! Our goal isn’t to be the least expensive or most expensive, it’s to make the highest quality product at the best value (quality/price=value).
A 12 micron t-shirt sounds awesome (see below), but at $2,195 we’re confident our soft, yet hard-wearing $68 tee is a better value. 😊
Customer Experience
Empowered humans. We’re not into bots or automated responses. Your question will be thoughtfully considered by our customer experience experts, who have the trust and freedom to actually solve your problem.
Guarantee. If you’re not satisfied, we’ll do everything we can to make it right. Simple.
Responsive. We respond to email inquiries within one business day, most often the same day. Shout out to Drake for providing world class customer service and speedy responses:
In-house Fulfillment
We completed the process of bringing our fulfillment in-house to Portland. We’re thrilled with our warehouse team, and with the control and flexibility we now have with our operations and logistics.
If we have an issue at the warehouse—shipping, systems, or capacity—it’s 100% our issue to fix. We don’t need to rely on a large, slow-moving 3PL to get the job done. (3PLs can be good for certain businesses, but we have a hands-on, high-expectation culture and felt we’d give in-house fulfillment a try instead of switching 3PLs and running into the same issues again.)
Sustainable Packaging
We're now using 100% PCW (post-consumer waste) FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certified paper packaging instead of the industry standard plastic polybags.
Upcoming Product
Growing Team
Welcoming Andrew, Nicole, Rebecca, and Will to the Wool&Prince Team.
We're always looking to meet people who want to make an impact and grow a small business. Send us an email at jobs@woolandprince.com if that sounds like you.
Personal Update
My team at home is growing too. 😊 Caitlin and I are expecting our first child at the end of March. Please send your dad tips!
Also, who's ready for spring/summer?!
