For a long time, the branded merchandise industry has been built around the same limited group of products - the same tees, sweatshirts, caps, totes, and accessories moving from the same legacy suppliers into nearly every print shop, distributor catalog, and branded program.
The decoration changes, but the underlying product often does not, and while that system works when the goal is simply to put a logo on something, it works less well for buyers who see merchandise as an extension of their brand - and who care about the material, fit, color, construction, and way the finished product feels in someone’s hands.
Starting with product
Our proprietary line of premium blanks across apparel, hats, bags, accessories, leather, drinkware, kitchenware, etc., gives brands, wholesale buyers, decorators, and distributors a better foundation for the products they are putting into the world.
Each Openhouse Blank is developed around the details that can be easy to overlook until they're wrong - the weight of a T-shirt, the shape of a cap crown, the structure of a tote, the position of a pocket, the feel of the hardware, or the exact shade of a color. A blank should not feel like the generic part of the process, because it is still the product - just before it becomes a bit more specific.
Better by default
Premium does not need to mean overly complicated, and often, it simply means taking a familiar product and resolving the parts that most suppliers have stopped questioning.
A better tee may come down to fabric weight, neckline, proportion, and the way it holds its shape, while a better cap may be defined by its crown, brim construction, closure, and how naturally it sits when worn. A better bag may need heavier canvas, more useful pockets, stronger handles, and proportions that make sense beyond the product photo. These decisions affect how the product wears, how it decorates, how long it lasts, and how the finished merchandise reflects the brand behind it - which is why our focus stays on materiality, fabric, fit, feel, color range, construction, and premium embellishment.
It is not about adding novelty for its own sake, it is about creating products that feel more complete from the beginning.
Built in-house
Building a line of blanks is an intricate process - it requires more than sourcing existing products and adding them to a catalog - it requires real product development.
Our in-house team develops concepts, tests materials, reviews samples, adjusts proportions, refines colors, and works through the small construction decisions that shape the finished product, allowing us to build products we would choose ourselves rather than accepting whatever is already available from the market. It also allows the line to grow across categories without losing its point of view. Apparel should feel connected to carry, carry should feel connected to leather, and accessories should support the same standard of quality as the core garments.
The goal is not to offer every possible option, it is to limit the choice and the junk in the merchandise supply chain by creating a stronger version of the blank in each category.
More than apparel
The legacy blank market is still heavily concentrated in apparel, even as modern branded programs have expanded far beyond it.
A hospitality group may need uniforms, retail products, guest gifts, and in-room accessories, while a technology company may need apparel, bags, drinkware, desk objects, event products, etc. A retailer may need an assortment that feels cohesive enough to merchandise as a collection, rather than a mix of unrelated products pulled from different catalogs.
These buyers should not have to assemble each category from a different supplier, with different quality standards, lead times, and design languages.
Openhouse is building a broader product line that can support a full program while maintaining the level of material and construction normally reserved for more specialized products - giving buyers more room to build something specific without starting every item from zero.
Ready to move
A good product is only useful if it can be ordered, produced, and delivered reliably, which is why our blanks are designed, produced, and warehoused by Openhouse, with a New York facility supporting inventory, fulfillment, kitting, distribution, and more.
Production from warehoused stock runs in approximately one to four weeks, allowing buyers to move faster without defaulting to the most generic option available, while our live drop-ship infrastructure supports both focused product orders and larger multi-category programs. To date, we have shipped more than 300,000 units, with products used by brands and organizations including SNL, Reddit, The Ritz-Carlton, Robinhood, Anine Bing, and others.
That client base reinforces the product itself, because these are buyers with a strong eye for design and a high standard for what carries their name.
Built for business
Openhouse is not trying to become a consumer lifestyle label - we are building a product brand for businesses.
Our role is to create enough product quality, clarity, and authority that brands, distributors, decorators, and large institutions can use the Openhouse line as a reliable foundation for their own work
For direct wholesale buyers, that means access to better products without needing to develop every item from scratch, while for distributors and decorators, it means a more premium assortment they can confidently bring to clients. For enterprise buyers, it means a product partner with the breadth, infrastructure, and experience to support larger programs.
Different buyers may enter through different channels, but the value remains the same - a stronger blank creates a stronger finished product.
The next standard
The branded merchandise market is large, but much of it is still controlled by incumbent suppliers offering a narrow range of familiar products, and we believe the premium part of the market is ready for something more specific.
Not a blank company focused only on apparel, not a custom merchandise agency that begins every project with a catalog search, and not a consumer brand trying to move into B2B - but a product-first supplier developing, warehousing, and distributing its own line across categories.
We did the difficult part first - we built the blanks, and now we are continuing to make them better.