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Hey there!

👻 It's Halloween’s week. Boo! 🎃

Just a friendly reminder that there are only about a few weeks to get corporate holiday gifts out.

If you’re planning on sending anything custom to clients or employees, now is the time to act. Things take a while to produce and ship, and production lines fill up fast once November hits.

Whether you're looking for drinkware, gift boxes, apparel, or something completely custom, getting orders started quickly will ensure that everything arrives on time and stress-free.

Want to talk about it? Reply to this email and we can hash out some ideas. Or click that big orange button to book a call.

Let's Talk About Your Merch!

H-E-B Goes Metal?

A popular grocery store tries a limited-edition merch drop. What could go wrong?

H-E-B, the Texas grocery chain with a fanbase that borders on cult-like, teamed up with Nashville designer Connor Dwyer for a “heavy metal” T-shirt collab. What started as a fun online idea turned into one of the biggest merch misfires of the year.

H‑E‑B Has Rabid Fans

The devotion of H‑E‑B’s fans run deep. Their Texas roots and strong community presence has built trust over decades. They support food banks, scholarships, and even put out disaster relief convoys after storms. The In-store experience amplifies it: fresh tortillas, strong private‑label quality, and employees that are empowered and treated well. The result is a brand people don’t just use; they fight for. That intensity turns routine grocery trips into loyalty, and loyalty into a fandom that will crash a website for a shirt.

How It Started

Nashville graphic designer Connor Dwyer built a nice social media following by pairing grocery chains with heavy metal aesthetics. He made fake shirts for stores like Costco, Aldi, Walmart, and Trader Joe’s, all in a “metal band” style. H-E-B fans demanded he did one for them, and he complied. H-E-B noticed, and they decided to make it real.

They flew Dwyer to Austin to design the official H-E-B Heavy Metal T-shirt. He toured the store and got close to the people to get the H-E-B vibe.

The final design featured barbed-wire typography, sleeve graphics, and the year “1905,” a nod to the brand’s founding. Big red shopping cart on the back. All proceeds from the sale were set to benefit HAMM, the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, which helps local artists with healthcare.

The project was a limited run: 1000 shirts at $35 each. 2 shirts per customer. Raising $35K for charity.

How It Crashed

When the drop went live on 10/17 at 10 a.m., fans rushed the site. Within four minutes, the shirts were marked sold out. Most shoppers, never even saw the checkout page. Lots of users thought it was ‘bots’ buying up the inventory.

The platform couldn’t handle the rush of traffic. Pages froze, carts failed, and fans hit refresh for nothing. Comments filled with frustration. Local media picked up the story, and even heavy metal blogs wrote about the crash.

Instead of a feel-good charity win, H-E-B found itself facing angry fans who felt left out.

What Went Right

The concept was fresh and fun.
The charity tie-in added purpose.
The collaboration was authentic.

What Went Wrong

Demand far outpaced supply.
There was no preorder or waitlist system.
The website wasn’t built for this kind of traffic.
Communication after the sellout was minimal.

The Real Lesson

H-E-B didn’t fail on intent. They failed on execution. They had a campaign built for one thousand buyers but attracted ten times that number (or more?).

Small businesses can learn from this. If you build hype, make sure your system can handle it. Test your website. Offer preorders or waitlists. Communicate clearly before and after the drop.

H-E-B’s heavy metal shirt proved how strong brand loyalty can be. But it also showed that enthusiasm alone won’t keep a site running.

When people are ready to buy, you need to be ready too.

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