Case Study:
Trout Creek Bible Camp
Who is Trout Creek?
For 75 years, Trout Creek Bible Camp has established themselves as an outdoor campground ministry located in beautiful Corbett, Oregon. Their goal is to utilize the surrounding nature and facilities to disciple students toward Christ-centered relationships.
Trout Creek's Challenges
Although Trout Creek has a long history of selling products (since 1960), they have struggled in recent years to offer relevant and trendy merchandise. Their apparel was either basic, cheap, unoriginal, or all-of-the-above.
They finally realized that the template-program t-shirt websites weren’t doing the trick, and they became frustrated that they were unsure what to order because the bigger companies didn’t have an option to talk with a real person or truly customize the artwork.
This was my first year working with Ink, and I love the products they created for our camp store! I’m excited to see new, creative designs that will be in the hands of staff, campers, and parents every summer.
The customer service that I’ve experienced through Cliff has been exceptional. He helped me hone in the design ideas, checked in during the summer regularly to make sure things were going well, was quick to reply when I needed reorders, and followed up with me after the summer to get started on the next year.
I am thrilled to work with Ink again and I’m excited to see what we come up with for our 75th anniversary!
Kelly Jo Cox
Marketing & Development Coordinator
Ink’s Position
Since 1988, Ink had been working with camps to design and decorate retail-quality products. Through our official partnership with CCCA (Christian Camp & Conference Association), we have had the joy of helping many camps offer trendier products.
When Trout Creek responded to one of our advertisements, we simply desired to learn more about their camp. Understanding what makes each camp unique is crucial from the very beginning because we do not use templated designs. Each design we create is completely custom.
Making a Plan
Combining our retail experience with Trout Creek’s camping and outdoors experience, we knew there was an opportunity to create great products. We helped them with every aspect of merchandising, from sourcing trendy products to finding design trends that fit their audience, while keeping everything inside their budget the whole way. Using our data from serving other camps, we were also able to give helpful insight on the right quantity numbers to order in each size.
In the end, their 2019 product line included 7 t-shirts, 3 sweatshirts, 3 embroidered patch caps, and various logo-branded promotional products.
Measuring Success
Before Ink, Trout Creek rarely tracked their inventory levels but it could be summed up as “discouraging”. They would always have TONS of products left over and were forced to reduce the prices so they could sell old merch on clearance.
This year, in their 1st year of partnership with Ink, they ordered the same total amount but SOLD OUT quickly and had to reorder multiple times throughout the year just to keep products on the shelves. They saw more staff, students, and parents order more merchandise than ever before. All Summer, everyone kept saying how much they loved the new sweatshirts, t-shirts, and hats.
Ink is a proven partner for camps, conferences, and special events.
31
Years of Merchandise Experience
684
Custom Designs Created in the Last 12 Months
6,129
Bulk Merchandise Orders Fulfilled in 2019
316
Customers With 5+ Years of Consecutive Order History
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