RibbedTee Blog – Archive

Grant Harris, Owner & Chief Style Consultant at Image Granted sat down to ask RibbedTee’s founder some questions about the company, and his inspiration behind starting RibbedTee. Here’s the article (reprinted from the Image Granted website):

You may remember my product review of the RibbedTee undershirt.  Since we enjoy discussing life and business with other entrepreneurs we thought we would sit down with the owner of RibbedTee, Mr. Mike Schwarz, and ask him about his company.  Feel free to contact Mr. Schwarz of you are interested in his products.  He can be reached HERE.   Be sure to follow RibbedTee on Facebook and Twitter.

1. Tell us a bit about how your company got started.

I got laid-off from a high-tech job in November 2007. While laid-off and looking for work, I came across the no longer running show “The Big Idea” (with Donny Deutsch) and it inspired me to do something I had been thinking about for many years.

I first had the idea to combine the fit and the feel of the ribbed tank top with the protection of a full undershirt about 6 years ago. Over the years, I was in search for a company who offered it, but could never find one. Once I saw Donny’s show, I decided it was time to make it myself — that’s when RibbedTee was born.

2. Why did you choose to sell men’s under garments?

Simply put, my mission in creating RibbedTee was to offer a line of undershirts that fit and feel better than any other undershirts in their class.

After being laid off, I created and launched RibbedTee out of necessity when I couldn’t find an affordable undershirt that fit me properly. I combined the cool form fit of the ribbed tank top with the protection of a full undershirt and created our original Classic Fit RibbedTee undershirts which offer superior comfort and fit, without breaking the bank. Since then, RibbedTee has expanded our line and now offer a high-end tank top (the “Protector”) and a luxurious, one-of-a-kind microRib MicroModal undershirt that both take comfort and fit to the next level.

3. What is the most exciting part of your day?

Finding new ways to market and position the RibbedTee brand.

4. What is the most rewarding part of your business?

Getting positive feedback from customers who’ve had a great experience with our product, our Customer Service, or both.

5. When did you decide RibbedTee was going to be your full time job?

I’ve always known that I wanted to start my own company – it was just a matter of coming up with that killer idea. Once we launched the website, and got our first order on the first day of doing business online, I knew that RibbedTee was going to be my full-time job moving forward.

6. What is your ultimate goal for the company?

We’d like RibbedTee to become a household name, known for quality products and amazing customer service.

7. Are there any new products your company plans to sell?

Yes, we have a number of unique undershirt products currently in development that address different market needs. We hope to further expand our line later this year.

8. How do you differentiate yourself from your competition?

Our focus is two-fold:

1. Offer a line of products that can’t be found anywhere else
2. Provide amazing customer service

We believe the combination sets us apart from any other company in our market segment.

9. What do you do in your free time?

Free time? What’s that? Coming from a high-tech background, when I can, I like to help other companies with their technology projects. Personally, I try to get to the gym regularly, spend some quality time with my wife and family, and catch a movie from time to time.

10. What else would you like our readers to know about you and your business?

That we’re committed to continually improving our product, operations, and our online experience. We welcome any and all feedback to help us obtain that, whether it be it positive or negative.

We’re tracking down the most critical tank top aficionados from around the world, and sending them our new Protector tank top to see how it stacks up. Here’s what one of them has to say about our new tank top (reprinted from UndershirtGuy.com):

“What’s in a name,” I thought when I read that the folks at RibbedTee were fed up with the term ‘wifebeater’ and opted to call their tank top the ‘Protector.’ Little did I know that by sampling the Protector, I would be wearing what is to my taste the most comfortable and best constructed tank top around. And I’ve tried on many a tank top! Let me start off by saying that I have no affiliation with the fabric trade. I know as much about threads as I do about modern art, but, as the saying goes, “I know why/what I like.” And I really like the products I sampled from RibbedTee. The V-neck from RibbedTee is worth your consideration, if you prefer that style, because it incorporates many of the admirable qualities found in the tank top. But if you’ve never convinced yourself that a tank top is the way to go, this undershirt may just change your mind.

This review will use Tug’s categories of fit, feel, function and affordability—with an interesting preamble. Since I had never heard of RibbedTee, I got inquisitive and exchanged some e-mails with the company’s founder, Mike Schwarz. I asked Mike why on earth he would get into the fiercely competitive undergarment business. His answer was that “simply put, I wasn’t satisfied with the undershirts that were on the market at the time.” This led Mike to start up a company headquartered in Nevada and operating out of L.A. in early 2008. He subsequently launched an e-commerce site (products are not currently available through retail outlets, but that may change) in April 2008, and he’s been growing his business even during this time of economic challenge. Quality still works. From his customer testimonials, it’s clear that Mike provides top notch service; this was borne out by me in his quick responses to my questions and his eagerness to receive product feedback. Now you have to like an entrepreneur who had the vision to start a business against competitive and economic odds, bets on quality, and talks to his customers. Mike has done a couple of other things worth mentioning: he manufactures most of his lines (he offers three core products) onshore and he is donating a portion of the Protector’s profits to an L.A.-based women’s shelter that aids victims of domestic violence. But this is an undershirt blog, after all. So how does the Protector stand up to critical review?

Dancing with the Stars instructor Damian Whitewood wearing his RibbedTee Protector Tank Top while in practice with Pamela Anderson.

Although you can experience RibbedTee in the form of a crew neck or V-neck style, I evaluated the tank top (Protector). (I later tried the V-neck and found that it had all the same good qualities). If you don’t customarily wear a tank top, do yourself a favor and try the Protector. In case you think that an undershirt is “just” an undershirt, read on.

Fit. For the average built guy, there’s always a risk in wearing a tank top. It just may not fill out the body shape in a good way. Think drooping necklines, extra fabric often poorly stitched around the sides, and a decidedly un-trim look. Here’s where the Protector comes to the rescue. It fit me like a glove. I learned that other tanks use spandex to keep their shape on less than sculptured bodies (like mine!) Spandex of course can sort of choke you as it wraps your torso—sort of like saran wrap, and who wants that? RibbedTee has no spandex, and most of its line doesn’t use it. My experience with many tank top manufacturers has been that their products are either super loose or super clingy if made with spandex or other wild sounding polymers. RibbedTee pulls off what I never thought was possible: a ribbed tank top that keeps its shape and fits to your body. A solid “A” on fit.

Feel. When I first opened the package of my RibbedTee tank top (by the way, no annoying scotch tape or fasteners attaching the tank to the packaging), I couldn’t believe the feel of the product. How one describes “soft” is a challenge, but let me tell you, this is soft! When the Protector came to the office with me, I thought for sure it had been transformed into fine silk. If your experience has been only with cotton, you know that it’s a great fabric but it can chafe—and you always know it’s there. RibbedTee’s silkiness just gave me a comfort zone between skin and shirt. The feel is very light weight so if you’ve been going chest-commando (shame on you), you won’t feel weighted down by this tank top. The secret, I was told, is the “modal/cotton blend.” Well, I must have been experiencing and loving a lot of modal! A solid “A+” on feel.

Function. Here are the facts: the modal/cotton blend, as I’ve said, is incredibly soft on the skin, but it’s also more absorbent than pure cotton (that wicking thing). The modal blend also gives the undergarment a longer life and maintains its bright white color longer than a full cotton shirt. The undershirts are cut longer. Why is that important? Well, if you’re like me, you’ve experienced the bulging effect or, worse, the ride up effect when the bottom of your undershirt ages and shrinks and meets your innie/outie. Now longer doesn’t translate into a night-shirt. It’s longer but somehow just the right length for the average guy to tuck. A tank top is sort of synonymous with ribbing—my layman’s definition of ribbing is a set of vertical lines alternating thread count (unlike your average T-shirt or V-neck shirt). The Protector’s ribbing is a good thing because it seems to adjust the shirt’s temperature and “give.”

Now I figured that since I was thinking nice things about the RibbedTee Protector, I had to do a little bit of a torture test. I started to pull (some would say “tug”) at its sides and see if my expansion experiment would reveal or produce thread holes. Not to my surprise, the shirt went right back to form without stretching out of shape or harming the fibers.

A last, completely subjective, word on function: I really dislike droopy necklines (on crew neck, V-neck or athletic undershirts). I also prefer tank tops that come with a fair amount of fabric on the neckline and shoulder straps. This preference promotes sturdiness around the collar and eliminates bunching up the distinctive shoulder straps. Also in the preference category: I like the U-line neck to be relatively high but obviously not crew-neck high. The Protector’s shoulder strap area between the heavier fabric was about 3/8” to one half inch—could use more in the way of heavy fabric to protect the shoulder strap’s form. The strap behind the neck area tended to bunch up a little after a day’s wear. Neck length was just about perfect reaching between the first and second button on the covering dress shirt. The shirt is available in white or black. Gray tank tops have become standard in the market, probably because the color magically minimizes the appearance of tank straps under a dress shirt that dissuade a few guys from wearing tank tops at all in a business setting. Still gets an “A.”

Affordability. The Protector retails for $25.00 per shirt. This puts it in the lower end of luxury undershirts but quite a bit above that of the average box cut wifebeater. But this is no box cut undershirt, and it sure is no wifebeater. For the money, great comfort value and high quality about sums it up. RibbedTee’s commitment to U.S.-based manufacturing and contributions to supporting battered women give you a chance to do good…and feel good about it.