Bolingbrook Printer Doing Big Business in Cubs Apparel

BOLINGBROOK, IL — At around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Eric Withaar got the call to start printing.

Withaar, a Plainfield resident, is president and owner of Premium Custom Products in Bolingbrook, a sports apparel manufacturer for retail outlets. When it became obvious the Cubs were going to win the National League Championships, the licensee told him to start printing. 7,000 T-shirts were printed over 12 hours. The shirts were then shipped to a mass distribution facility in Bloomingdale and from there shipped all over the country, Withaar said.

He and his crew were on hand Saturday night waiting for that call to come in. The designs were ready to go and workers were standing by. It was around the top of the ninth inning when the call came. Had the Los Angeles Dodgers managed to win the game, only around 500 or so shirts would have been printed, a loss of just a few dollars compared to the big picture, Withaar said.

“They have hundreds of thousands of pre-orders on this product,” Withaar said. “They literally have millions of pre-orders if they win the World Series.”

Withaar said he didn’t go to bed until 1 p.m. Sunday. His workers stayed until 11 a.m. But by 7 a.m. Monday, it was back to work.

Premium Custom Products is doing two National League Championship designs, which will probably go until the middle of the week in terms of production.

“Then we’ll start getting ready for the World Series, but we probably won’t do anything until after the games unless they have us do a participation team design, which is Cubs and Indians.”

As Withaar was talking to Patch, he had to tell a truck driver that his shipment would be ready soon. Monday he’ll have a few trucks coming through all ready to hold pallets containing thousands of shirts.

Over the years, Withaar has done plenty of business with big-time games, including the Blackhawks, Chicago Bears and more.

“This will be by far, if they win the World Series, the most (merchandise) Major League Baseball will ever do,” he said.

And if they do win, Premium Custom Products will print as much merchandise as it can handle in 24-hour shifts.

“Tens of thousands of pieces,” he said.

In 1989 Withaar started his printing business out of his home. In 1991, it grew into a full-time job and has been growing ever since. But it’s not just major league sports.

“We do a lot of local business, as well, with apparel and merchandise,” he said. “Plaques, mugs and banners.”

photos courtesy of Eric Withaar