Waitstaff and hospitality workers agree that restaurant & hotel wear would not be complete without an apron to protect their uniform when serving customers. The obvious advantage to everyone is that an apron can be changed quickly when unexpectedly soiled, is inexpensive and one size fits everyone.

An opportunity is lost if managers think that the use of aprons is limited to the front office. Warehouse workers share in the benefits when wearing a form of apron known as a smock. A smock is a combination of vest and apron, with lots of pockets, and covers both front and back. The long ties on the sides (instead of ties in the back as found in aprons) adjust to fit almost everyone. What an apron has in common with a smock is pockets. Utility is universal when comparing aprons to smocks, but smocks offer greater protection for your clothing.

Marketing professionals oftentimes have input in uniform purchase decisions, and many marketing managers get excited when they see so much surface area from which to promote a product, idea or brand. Like a blank canvas, your business can go anywhere from a modest four inch wide embroidered message in the center front to a massive sixteen inch wide custom ink screen printed statement on both front and back. As this opportunity becomes apparent, we have seen a steady increase in decorated smocks for both back and front office. Your company's custom logo and sales message can be swapped out on different days, to suggest different things to potential and actual customers. Savvy restaurant and hospitality managers provide many smocks to the same employee, each smock bearing a different message for that appointed day.

There is an income opportunity with aprons and smocks that should be explored with your sales manager. I have several online cooking shows and a few retailers that sell a youth version of their apron as well as an adult apron with their logo. If you are uncertain if this idea will work for you, just take a few of your embroidered custom logo aprons or smocks and place them near your cash register and post a price alongside it. Sales will be rather brisk if you offer a cash incentive to the cashier for each sale.

Apron embroidery with your custom logo is a simple process. Unlike polo shirt embroidery, you can go big on an apron. Polo shirt embroidery works best when the width of your logo is four inches or less. The four inch rule works to keep price down and to keep the weight of the logo light, as a shirt logo can be top heavy and actually lean forward or droop. Apron embroidery benefits from the use of a thicker fabric and a wide firm foundation. Keep in mind that you cannot embroider the pockets on most aprons due to the amount of space is required to hoop fabric for sewing.

When planning logo width, ask for a price quote for various logo sizes and a sew out of the logo on fabric to be mailed to you for approval prior to production.