With still days of world championship partying ahead in New Orleans, two weeks of intensive Super Bowl-related work are finally winding down for one Florida distributor. As an official project partner with Reebok, Atlas Embroidery and Screen Printing (asi/700400) recently produced tens of thousands of Super Bowl-logoed apparel items at its Ft. Lauderdale manufacturing site. “We had our five presses running since the AFC Championship game [two weeks ago],” says Adam Cohen, vice president of sales at Atlas. “After the Super Bowl, we ran them until 10:00 [Monday morning]. This has given us a major shot in the arm.”

The screen printed apparel, which ranges from short sleeve T-shirts to hoodies, was distributed and then sold at sporting goods stores, hotels and other venues throughout Florida. Atlas printed several designs, including items featuring Peyton Manning and Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. “We had been on their [Reebok's] radar and we got an opportunity to put a bid package together,” says Cohen. “We went through an extensive site survey, but it came down to our ability to do the job quickly and efficiently. I’d say we hit it out of the park.”

Rather than hire additional temporary workers, Atlas offered its staff of around 60 employees a large amount of overtime hours. “We probably had 60 to 70 hour weeks,” says Cohen. “It gave us the chance to give our people big chunks of money in their paychecks to start them off well for the year.”

Following this successful run, Atlas is now developing specialty apparel concepts for Reebok for other sports, including NCAA and professional basketball. Already, Atlas works as a prestige partner with Staples Promotional Products (asi/120601), servicing large clients like Coca-Cola, UPS and Google. “We basically work as an in-house ad agency, bringing ideas from the retail side,” says Cohen. “We’re not just a contract printer. We have these specialty projects as well.”