Beck’s 1791 Clothing Line Shatters Sales Projections; Manufacturer to Hire More Staff to Meet Demand

Glenn Beck's 1791 clothing line—launched only three weeks ago—is shattering what were already optimistic sales projections, giving the manufacturer a mandate not only to ramp up production but also to hire more employees.

"We will be adding two more staff members in the near future to accommodate what is clearly a consistent demand of the Glenn Beck line," said Cara Aley, American MoJo president and COO. She's "confident that this number will grow quickly in the coming months, and well past the holidays."

One gangbuster sales example so far is the zip-up jacket, which is selling 50% better than anticipated, Aley noted: "Winter is coming, after all!"

But the biggest triumphs of the through-the-roof commerce is that it gives more single mothers—American MoJo's work force—the chance to make a living and gets more funds to the U.S. communities to which Beck is committing the 1791 net proceeds.

Aley lauded 1791 customers for their "huge" role in getting Beck's Mercury One philanthropic work off the ground (1791 sales fund it) and "helping to create jobs for an underserved population." She also gave kudos to Beck for his vision.

"Now more than ever, this country needs people who are capable of making change, [who] take responsibility...and Glenn Beck is one of those good people. I am hopeful that he will inspire other business owners and influential individuals to do the same."

The relationship between the 1791 clothing line and Mercury One in many ways mirrors the philanthropic arm of Newman’s Own, Beck has often said over the course of 2011.

And as Mercury One will “help neighbors help neighbors” in the American family, Beck declared, the 1791 clothing line funds it by employing the same philosophical approach—by depending on the craftsmanship and artistry of Americans (i.e., jobs for Americans in America), using high-grade materials made in the U.S., at a price people can afford—yet with the quality that Beck demands.

It was “almost impossible” to find that combination, said L.J. Herman, who runs Mercury Radio Arts merchandise. He'd been searching and trying all sorts of options since last January with no success. It was a “constant pursuit,” Herman continued, to find American companies with the “institutional knowledge” to create clothing of high quality—the way clothing used to be made in the 1950s and 60s. Clothing that was crafted to last. (”We don’t do it anymore,” Beck said.)

Until American MoJo hit the radar.

Herman said American MoJo was the “one company” that met all the prerequisites Beck wanted in the clothing line—including that it employs “people who want to work, not take a handout, and have a story.”

"Glenn Beck’s team came to us having researched American manufacturing options," Aley said, "and found us to be the right option for them based on both our quality of work and our mission to help an underserved population."

Indeed, American MoJo does it all—creating “sustainable employment opportunities in the apparel manufacturing sector” for single mothers and “utilizing proceeds from your purchase of a MoJo product to provide better than minimum wage salaries, a chance at a new career path, and more importantly, freedom from the prohibitive daycare costs that keep so many mothers from re-entering the work force and being able to support themselves and the families that need them,” its website says.

The 1791 theme—the year the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution—has been in Beck’s mind for few years, Herman said, but only last January did Beck decide to create a clothing line around it.

The main thrusts of the 1791 line are to remember where we came from as Americans—to revisit that “original blueprint” of our Founding Fathers—and to restore values and efforts that have made America great. The 1791 designs “will be a constant reminder to those that wear it that we are a people of merit,” Beck said, and that maintaining those rights we’ve cherished since 1791 don’t stick around without “great responsibility.”

One of 1791's major design elements—the purple “merit badge”—tells a unique story, Beck explained. What we know as the Purple Heart began with Gen. George Washington, who awarded them during the Revolutionary War to “ragtag American soldiers,” Beck said, based on their “virtue or merit. Men who would do the right thing and go the extra mile.”

Beck said when he met with American MoJo to discuss mutual goals and values, both parties found much in common.

“We finally found a small group of entrepreneurs that wanted to fill this void of American product while putting Americans to work that want to work,” Beck said. “Single moms that want to make something of themselves and teach their children that earning an honest dollar for an honest days work makes one a person honor and Merit. We don’t know their politics nor do we care. We do however know their spirit and intent: To work together to restore our nation by reclaiming quality and honest and honorable capitalism.”

Mercury One looks to operate on local levels, Beck said, and not rely on tax dollars or donations—and the 1791 clothing line is the first thrust of Mercury One’s mission of giving while completely sustaining itself through good ol’ American ingenuity and hard work.

“Now it is America that finds itself in need,” Beck said, explaining the mission of Mercury One. “And there are no rescue ships crossing the seas, no countries offering to erase our debt or feed the hungry, give shelter to our homeless, or rebuild our towns and cities destroyed by catastrophe. We—you and me—must save America by saving ourselves. And we will.”

Beck has acknowledged the enthusiasm of the people of Mount Airy, N.C., who’ve been wanting to him to set up shop in town and be a part of creating the 1791 line. While American Mojo will be making the fleeces, the full long-term production strategy is still evolving, Beck said.