*** Before we get started, see the end of this post for a Northern Park Apparel discount code you can use between now and December 15, 2013…

I wanted to share a bit of news from a company that I am proud to represent as an ambassador.  You may recall a post I did many months ago introducing you to Northern Park Apparel.  At the time, they were producing shirts with (in mine, and many others’ opinions) super cool designs representing the True North, Strong and Free.  As a start up, Derrick and Derek made the decision to use shirts produced in other countries in order to manage production costs.  This wasn’t something they took lightly, and they always said that they would shift to Canadian manufactured products as soon as business pressures would allow it.

Well, it didn’t take long.  NPA is barely a year old and they have moved their entire apparel line to being made right here in Canada.  What does this mean? Well it means the garments are produced in factories that fall under Canadian health, safety, wellness, and labour regulations.  It means higher wages for the folks toiling away to make these shirts.  It also means more expensive products (and less profit for NPA – the pain is shared).  So the shirts that NPA orders cost more, and thus the finished products they sell cost more.  NPA has decided it is worth it for them to make a little less money, and is hoping it is worth a little more of your money to purchase their products.  Speaking of the products, the shirts are now made from bamboo (70%) and organic cotton (30%) and are super comfy.  That’s worth a few extra bucks alone!  Also, NPA continues to use portions of its revenue to support causes that they believe in.

I’ll admit that it pains me to spend more money on clothes, however paying attention to the recent spotlight on dangerous working conditions in many garment factories means it also pains me to buy super cheap clothes that are likely made at the expense of another human’s health.  I know this discussion is much larger than “Made in North America = good, Made offshore = bad” but honestly when 99% of the clothes I buy are made in developing countries to leverage cheap labour and lax regulations, its nice to have to occasionally have the option of buying something Canadian made.  That’s why I support NPA’s new approach to product sourcing.  I am willing to pay a little more for it.

As an added bonus right now, Derek/Derrick have offered up a discount code that anyone can use when ordering an NPA product from www.northernparkapparel.ca  between now and December 15, 2013.  If you enter the code KENTNPA2013 when you checkout of the online store, the whole order gets 20% off.  That helps right?

I am happy to help out with these guys and this great company, and I hope you will check out their site.  They’ve got some of my older favourites, and are always adding new designs to the mix.