Personalize your cruising experience

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By Jennifer DeWitt | Friday, May 11, 2007 12:16 AM CDT | () comments

VictoryStore.com of Davenport is helping Carnival Cruise Lines turn up the fun on its ships with a new line of customized apparel — clothing that cruise passengers can design themselves online.

VictoryStore.com, an online promotional products store owned by Steve and Kelli Grubbs, has secured a three-year deal with Carnival to be the licensee for online custom apparel design. Steve Grubbs, the company’s chief executive officer, said his business prevailed in a very competitive review process to earn the contract.

Through a new Web site at www.CarnivalFunTees.com — also created by VictoryStore.com — passengers can order T-shirts, polo shirts and tank tops and personalize them with a family name, business name or other designs. Victory

Store.com offers designs for honeymoons, weddings, family reunions, corporate groups, birthdays, anniversaries, girlfriend getaways, family and friends.

The items will be produced at VictoryStore.com’s west Davenport headquarters, located in the former H.M. Perry School, and shipped to the customer’s home.

“We are so excited, we’ve never done anything like this before,” said Joy Cadieu, Carnival’s manager of marketing partnerships and licensing. “This is just the beginning, after the shirts we are going to launch a lot more products.”

Grubbs said the new contract has brought the addition of six employees to their staff — in customer service and production and printing. “I expect this to lead to a lot more hiring over the next few months,” he said, projecting that his 80-person staff could grow by another 50 people.

Carnival is the first major retailer to partner with Victory

Store.com on the online design business. “We’re in talks with a number of other retailers and national corporations to potentially do online designs for their brands.”

Founded in 2000, Victory

Store.com began as an online store for political candidates and businesses. It entered the online design business four years ago and branched out into the apparel business two years ago, he said.

New Jersey-based Marathon Projects, the licensing agent for Carnival Cruise Lines, helped orchestrate the latest business opportunity for the west Davenport company. “VictoryStore. com had the most creative apparel designs for Carnival, designs that could appeal to all ages,” said Craig Kalter, Marathon Project’s president.

Kelli Grubbs, the company’s president, said VictoryStore. com’s online design technology and digital presses gave “us an advantage over our competitors.” “It’s also an advantage being located in the Midwest, as a central shipping location is strategically important to this contract.”

For Carnival, the customized apparel fills a niche that passengers have asked for — particularly with the increase in group travel, Cadieu said. “In the past, groups have wanted shirts and asked ‘can we use your logo?’ ” While Carnival often agreed, she said “We didn’t have any control over how our brand was portrayed on shirts.”

VictoryStore.com’s designs not only protect Carnival’s logo, but also add the element of personalization. “This is so interactive I think people are going to have fun doing it,” Cadieu said, adding that Carnival is “very pleased with the sales numbers” just than a little more than a week after rolling out the new Web site.

She expects most travelers will pre-order apparel to have on their cruise. “But I think there will be situations where people cruised six or eight months ago with us and had a great time, and now they want to go online and create a memory of that cruise.”

While Carnival customers are expected to be the primary customers, the Web site is open to anyone.

Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com.