When Taylor Swift donned a cap last month, it meant big business for KC company

When he awoke on a Sunday morning three weeks ago, Garret Prather knew something significant had happened.

And for an apparel company in Kansas City that manufactures “New Heights” caps, it really was a big deal that superstar singer Taylor Swift was spotted at the Coachella music festival wearing that hat.

What Swift wears often sells out quickly, and orders for that cap featuring the name of Travis Kelce’s podcast went through the roof.

“On Sunday there was a lot of back and forth between parties,” said Prather, who is vice president of strategic partnerships for Sandlot Goods. “And we haven’t really looked back from there.”

Prather declined to say how many caps Sandlot was producing, but the clothing company Homage, which sells “New Heights” products, initially sold out of the hats. They were made available again but the delivery dates were pushed back.

For Sandlot, this is the biggest order with the quickest turnaround time.

“It’s been a really good challenge for everybody across the team,” Prather said from the company’s production site on Southwest Boulevard. “It’s not just like, ‘Hey, we need to cut and sew and embroider and get out the door.’ It’s how are we going to do this, how are we going to make sure we have all the material on hand? We’ve been making calls to our various suppliers saying, ‘Hey, something happened with Taylor Swift, a great thing, and so here we are, and we need your help on this one.’

“I think what’s been really nice is the relationships we have with our suppliers. They get it and they’ve helped us accelerate certain things in-house. From top to bottom from the team, getting an order, getting it cut down, getting it sewn, getting it decorated, getting it seamed, getting it shipped out the door, it’s everybody stacking hands. Probably the fastest turnaround that we’ve had to do. Normally we’re eight to 10 weeks from a custom order being placed, getting that done out the door.”

But in the case of Swift’s “New Heights” cap, the first orders were turned around in a week’s time.

Sandlot has a retail store in Leawood and has items for sale at the Made in KC Marketplace on the Plaza. The company has worked with the Kansas City Current and produced retro Kansas Jayhawks gear.

In addition to caps, Sandlot offers pennants, tote bags, baseballs and beverage “sweaters.”

But at this time, the “New Heights” caps, which are also available in black, are front and center for the company.

“For us, it’s not like we’ve ever had that happen before at Sandlot. It’s been a lot of learning,” Prather said. “We have black hats. We have black fabric on hand. And so we immediately started cutting down because it was an offer of both the black hat and the green hat.

“And so we got started on those immediately as those sold and then the green. It’s pretty much all green getting sewn right now as we work and focus on that. We’re continuing to try to get shipments out to Homage so they can fulfill and just keep this party going.”

The company has 40 full-time and part-time employees, so there are limits to how fast it can produce one of the most popular caps in the country.

Prather has been encouraged by how other customers have been flexible given the surge in work being done at Sandlot.

“We’re concentrating on the order we have and making sure that we definitely deliver that, because we’re balancing that on top of a lot of other orders that we already had in the queue,” Prather said. “And then what I’ve spent the past two weeks doing as well as navigating this order is calling clients trying to make sure they understand the situation, how unique it is.

“Thankfully almost everybody has been super understanding. They’re excited for us, they see this as a really unique opportunity for us.”