HPG (PPAI 110772, Platinum), PPAI 100’s No. 7 supplier, has announced the onboarding of industry veteran Jeff Kranz as director of national accounts.

Kranz joins HPG with 25 years in the branded merchandise industry, most recently serving as director of national accounts at Vantage Apparel.

“I’m very excited to add Jeff to the HPG award-winning sales team and, with his vast experience, he’ll be a great partner to the national accounts,” says HPG CRO Trina Bicknell.

Sock Club (PPAI 692671, Gold), PPAI 100’s No. 30 supplier, has named Nick Lateur director of new product sales.

Lateur joined the company on November 2 and will lead Sock Club’s expansion into new product categories in 2027. Bringing 12 years of promotional products experience to the role, he previously worked at HPG, and most recently at Merch.ai.

Lateur was also recognized as the top social media influencer in the industry as part of PPAI’s #Online18 for two years in a row.

“Our expansion comes down to a simple idea: make good things, and make them well,” says Noah Lee, founder and CEO of Sock Club. “Design has always led everything we do, and every new product we add will be held to the same standard as our socks, from the first mockup to the final inspection. Nick knows this industry and the distributors in it as well as anyone, and he’s the right person to lead this next chapter.”

Storm Creek (PPAI 438091, Gold), PPAI 100’s No. 28 supplier, has hired Lannon Grady as director of product and Linh Stoebner as development and quality lead.

Grady brings more than 25 years of apparel leadership experience, most recently working for Target. During his tenure, he was a founding merchant for Target’s $1B+ All in Motion activewear brand and helped build the girls’ and boys’ performance categories into top-performing areas of the business. Prior to Target, Grady spent three years at Under Armour growing its global golf business.

Stoebner joins Storm Creek with more than 30 years of apparel design, product development and quality experience. Most recently, she served as quality control manager at Clothier Design Source in St. Paul, Minnesota, following nearly two decades with Totes Isotoner/Northern Cap & Glove.

“Product has always been at the heart of what makes Storm Creek different, and we’re excited to bring Lannon and Linh’s experience and expertise to the team,” says Doug Jackson, founder and product visionary of Storm Creek. “As we continue to grow, our commitment to making the best product possible never changes. That means investing in the people, processes and partnerships that help us raise the bar at every stage, from the first design concept to the finished product. Lannon and Linh will play an important role in helping us do exactly that.”

Imperial (PPAI 133496, Silver) has announced the appointment of Thad Fabish as sales director for its outdoor, destination and leisure channel.

Most recently, Fabish served as director of sales for an apparel company, where he expanded nationwide sales coverage and revitalized the company’s headwear business. Previously, he was national sales manager for a headwear company, where he led an independent sales force and managed key accounts across the resort and destination markets.

“Thad brings a valuable combination of channel expertise, sales leadership and headwear knowledge to Imperial,” says Dan Sprague, vice president of corporate sales at Imperial. “His experience building strong rep networks and developing customer partnerships makes him a great addition to our team as we continue to grow our presence across the outdoor, destination and leisure channel.”

Reciprocity Road (PPAI 769354), a buying group of now 13 distributor members across the United States and Canada, joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on October 21 for a hands-on oyster restoration project.

The group also presented CBF with a $5,000 donation. Over three hours, they filled 250 mesh bags with 100 to 150 recycled oyster shells each. Together, the bags will provide habitat for up to an estimated 375,000 oysters.

“We’re stronger when we work together, and that’s exactly what happened out on the Bay,” says Bobbi Levingston, executive director of Reciprocity Road. “Every one of our 13 distributors had someone there, shoulder to shoulder, filling bags of shell. Knowing that work will become a home for up to 375,000 oysters is something we’re all proud of.”

STAHLS’ (PPAI 189660, Standard-Plus) Fulfill Engine has introduced a new connection that lets customers use tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to retrieve and analyze product, order and fulfillment information from their authorized Fulfill Engine accounts.

“For years, we’ve built software that requires people to go find the information they need. AI completely changes that,” says Jayson Tompkins, chief digital officer at STAHLS’.

“Instead of navigating multiple screens, pulling reports and trying to connect the dots, customers can simply ask questions about their business and get meaningful answers. But that’s just the beginning. We’ve laid the groundwork for AI to go beyond identifying trends to actually creating products, building stores and taking action on behalf of our customers. That’s the future we’re building at Fulfill Engine, and we’re just getting started.”