Ship John
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great find, @Karol! One of my absolute fave brands; I just really love their whole ethos, and Mike's a legit, down-to-earth dude
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This was going around a bit recently, supposed to be a former SJ employee, I certainly cant verify it..
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZgVH-iot0m/?utm_medium=share_sheet
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Definitely disappointing. I'm sorta in the same boat re: the jacket being the only SJ I've ever really been interested in, but nonetheless lousy about all their other goods.
EDIT: also should add I'm not going to blindly take any of this as fact, but I feel like most of the time these things are true.
Also, off topic — what was the price of the Willis before the recent increase?
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^ I owned a wills a while ago and I want to say I paid $450-$475 for it.
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Yeah I think they're $598 now, which… ouch. I'm not sure if I could stomach paying that for a canvas jacket.
I think they were $450 when I bought mine, was just trying to remember how much I'll have to pay when my remaining tab is due.
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This was going around a bit recently, supposed to be a former SJ employee, I certainly cant verify it..
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZgVH-iot0m/?utm_medium=share_sheet
oooof, that's definitely not a good look at all.
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Yeah I think they're $598 now, which… ouch. I'm not sure if I could stomach paying that for a canvas jacket.
I think they were $450 when I bought mine, was just trying to remember how much I'll have to pay when my remaining tab is due.
Yep, they've gone up in price. I got in when it was $548 and they've increased it to $598.
I guess with V2 comes the price increase. Adding the 2 way zipper, lining and other things, something had to give.
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There is something even more disturbing at closer inspection (in comment from the OP https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZgVH-iot0m/?utm_medium=share_sheet):
"I didn't even get into what a duplicitous piece of work with anger issues Mike is."
… well, that went south fast -
If memory serves me right, Ship John was recently hiring more staff and was paying well over $15/hr plus offered medical and dental etc.
So yea maybe this dude and Mike didn’t get along, that’s human interaction. But who really thought they made the thermals in house?
Next we’re gonna find out the beanies and hats aren’t made in house! Oh no
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Very interesting. I know I debated between a rouge territory jacket and Ship John. I'll admit the 'exclusivity' factor and the ungodly weight swayed me over and I laid down a deposit. I get major d-bag vibes from Mike but that's my own bias showing–he could very well be the nicest dude ever.
Two sides to every story as well. Did Mike have "anger" issues with this guy b/c he came late every day or left early type thing...who knows
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Feels like a disgruntled employee that was expecting everything right away. It takes 5-10 years in most fields here before you're competent enough to demand a decent living.
From a business perspective I remember him saying he orders the canvas from a textile supplier in New Jersey. Would guess its this one: http://www.fairfieldtextile.com/sounds/Stock_Items_prices_and_charges27.pdf
Figure $100-150 in material then you pay experienced people $100-150 to make each jacket, shipping etc, and you're at 50% margins. Obviously the costs of the machines, workspace, tools aren't there, but that is probably what keeps the brand afloat.If it was just about money I imagine it would be more profitable for him to just license out the brand or sell a share on the low.
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Mike suffered injuries from from a hatchet attack so maybe -PTSD. I don't know the guy, I can't say.
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Good point @Tmulltuous indeed. I can imagine a young guy starting at SJ thinking there would be some glamor, given the brand.
If I started at Iron Heart tomorrow, I doubt Alex is sending me to Japan right off the bat to have productive discussions with Haraki or the mills. You have to earn your way over the years.
Certainly, when it comes down to it, I've never heard anyone that knows the industry say anything but good things about the Wills.
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I found out about Ship John years ago on Deans podcast. Seems pretty genuine to me. I’ll take my own opinions vs someone on tiktok.
It’s very stressful running a business and paying for other people’s livelihoods. Not that I have ever owned a company. But I’d like to hear this dudes feelings after he starts his own company from scratch and has a dozen employees to take care of.
https://m.soundcloud.com/deandelray/408-mike-elias-ship-john
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Let's stop the conjecture, none of us know anything about what we are talking about.
And listen to this instead…....
https://ironcast.buzzsprout.com/1739026/8750050-iron-cast-s1-ep6-mike-elias-from-ship-john
