Hardhits Expands after decade Serving local Clientele

Owners/Operators Jeff Mayhugh and Chris Concepcion stand inside their new showroom with sample apparel behind them.

Hardhits LLC, Embroidery and Screen Printing, in Manassas offers embroidery and screen printing for a variety of business apparel, sports uniforms, spirit wear and promotional items.

For the past ten years, they have been growing their local business, serving orders that range from 12 pieces into the thousands; now, they are expanding to a new location.

Owners Chris Concepcion and Jeff Mayhugh started the company in 2005 when they were both just 19-years-old. Concepcion who grew up in Manassas and Mayhugh who grew up in Gainesville are friends who were looking to open a sporting good store. After a bit of research, they decided to offer screen-printing and embroidery on sports apparel instead. Like many young entrepreneurs, they launched their business working out of their parents’ basement. However, over the last decade, they continued to grow their business, changing locations twice to accommodate their expanding market.

Now in their tenth year, they have a brand new location, have hired new employees and are looking to hire even more staff. With their expanding capacity, they also hope to expand into new markets, acquiring new customers.

Last year, they opened their new storefront located at 7204 South Hill Drive in Manassas off Balls Ford Road, conveniently located just behind their previous storefront. The nearby move allowed them to double the size of their warehouse, which, in turn, allowed them to process a greater amount of merchandise expediently on state of the art equipment.

Concepcion and Mayhugh believe they have only been able to grow their business over the past decade by standing out among the competition. They believe working mainly with a local client base kept them on their toes, so that they continue to offer the best products and service.

Hardhits employee Elizabeth works on screen printing in the warehouse.

“These people live here, and we live here in the community. We want to build a good quality name for our company,” Mayhugh said.

Knowing their customers, and striving for repeat business, holds them to a certain quality.

“Our quality is really good, and that is what separates us,” Concepcion said. "We’ve been able to keep our customers for a long time, and we have a lot of repeat customers.”

Hardhits' quality is a result of a high level of detail and oversight. Concepcion calls it an "artful process." And, he said he would not sell any product to a customer that he would not be happy receiving himself. It is a different business philosophy than one would find with a large retailers that deals with thousands of customers, none of whom the owners or employees know personally. At Hardhits, they are not so much focused on keeping the presses running as they are with exceeding their customers’ expectations.

And although most embroidery and screen printing shops offer the same garment catalogs to choose from, the staff at Hardhits will talk their clients through the process, helping them choice the perfect garments for their order. Concepcion noted that everyone is looking for a good value, but people also want the best quality fort a certain price point. That is where the Hardhits' staff comes in, advising customers on which items are high quality, long-lasting and would work well with a design or logo.

Chris works on the new computer system.

“How can you tell one polo from another?" Concepcion asked. "We have a lot of experience. We can describe it to a customer. And, we notice the little things that we know that the customer may want."

Chris and Jeff attribute much of Hardhits’ success to the excellent working relationships they have with local youth sports leagues. At Hardhits, they go above and beyond for their student athletes, saving coaches and parents valuable time and energy.

One way they do this is by packaging items separately.  When teams place orders, Hardhits employees do the work of packing a personalized bag for each child. This saves coaches and parents the time of separating everyone’s garments, which can take hours, especially for an entire league. Hardhits also offers its customers the option of creating online stores for schools, leagues and organizations that sell large amounts of spirit wear. Mayhugh creates a one-stop online site where athletes and fans can order spirit wear to support their favorite teams.

“Schools save a lot of time and save on their overage. I don’t think anyone else who is local is doing anything like this. I don’t know of any web stores where you can pick up your items,” said Mayhugh, explaining that they will also ship items if needed.

Along with providing uniforms and spirit wear, Hardhits works closely with local businesses. The two owners believe that garments that showcase business logos are essential to most businesses and serve as a sign of professionalism and inexpensive advertising.

Hardhits Owners/Operators Chris Concepcion and Jeff Mayhugh stand outside Hardhits new storefront.

Along with business apparel, Hardhits can also sell personalized pens, mugs, water bottles and a variety of other promotional items. They believe local businesses can feel good working with Hardhits since its owners and staff are invested in the local community. They can also feel confident that when they do business with Hardhits they are more than an anonymous order, but a valued client.

Readers can visit the Hardhits' website, hardhits.net, or call 703-365-7706.