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Canterbury
SGB talks to Craig Vartan, Canterbury's Senior Product Manager, about BaseLayers and IonX, the core products that have helped the brand reach new levels of consumer recognition, and the rise of which is based on you, the independent retailer.
Craig says, "We've recently changed our warehousing structure where we've effectively moved from the North West, down to a multinational partner based in Hamshall, Birmingham. The last few months we've been catching up, getting our systems correctly realigned, up and running and we're supplying much more efficiently now.
"Canterbury's business has been founded upon the independent trade primarily, which we work very closely with, as opposed to some of the very large brands who are dominated by their multiple businesses. The whole service aspect is extremely important to us, and I think our sales guys have done a terrific job under quite difficult circumstances. I think honesty is always going to be the best approach but the wheels are firmly back on the track, and what we have to do now is to restore people's confidence in certain areas that Canterbury is very much alive and well and is moving forward. Everyone can benefit as a result. I think people will start to judge us now as we start to put those deliveries through their door, in an efficient manner and they can judge us on our actions rather than just warm words."
THE PRODUCTS:
BaseLayer
"BaseLayers are about the technology of moisture wicking transport. This is where sweat's whipped away from the skin to the surface of the fabric and evaporated at a greater rate, so it means you're not going to carry around excess moisture, which could lose you fractions of a second, either on a field, a court or at the gym.
"It's all about regulating your body temperature, so it conserves the energy that would otherwise be utilised to maintain a consistent body temperature and this means that it would leave you ready to compete at your optimum level.
"Hot and cold: cold when it's cold to keep you warm, and hot when it's hot to keep you cool. Of particular note in this line are:
Cold long sleeve - Available in both adults and kids, these would retail at £28 and £24 respectively in the market place.Colours include: black, white and navy blue.
Cold short sleeve and a cold legging - Cold short sleeve product would be £25 retail, cold shorts, £22 adults and £20 kids. Leggings would be £38 for an adult and £30 for a kid.
IonX
"With IonX which I can summarise in three points:
"The overriding point is that Canterbury IonX BaseLayer delivers ionic energy to the body through a negatively charged electro magnetic field.
"IonX improves performance, so ionisation improves the flow of oxygen enriched blood to bring more energy to the muscles, which increases the average power output, improving speed and strength.
"Point two is about recovery. It accelerates recovery due to improved blood flow, which efficiently flushes out the residual waste products like lactic acid left in the muscles after high intensity activity."
Key products are:
Mirror cold long sleeved
"This has ionised compression, compression is a performance underwear BaseLayer that improves the bodies capability to train, compete and recover.
"Canterbury's compression is graded, so it's designed to reduce the build up of lactic acid in the muscles, and reduced the time it takes for the muscles to recover from exertion, it helps prevent muscle oscillation, which is obviously things that are flapping around which lead to muscle fatigue.
"It minimises soreness, which helps the muscles to recover faster than normal.
"It also aids blood circulation, so that improves your heart efficiency and is particularly beneficial during periods of inactivity.
"The final point is that it improves body awareness, enhancing skill and coordination, so it's that feel good, feel sharp factor that really delivers within compression.
Long sleeve compression and compression pant: Both of these products would retail for £50, and in the pants' case there will be a new IonX 3D compression pant for AW 2009, which means delivery of product into the market from July 2009.
"It's the way the pant has been constructed, it does have that 3D imagery about it, but apart from the aesthetic appeal, it's all very much about the construction of the garment in terms of that optimum fit. In terms of construction it's got contrasted flat seaming for great fit, preventing chaffing etc."
