A few weeks ago, the BFM TV teams paid us a visit at our premises in Villeneuve-lès-Bouloc, in the south west of France.
Why? To film a report on the TopTex group, in which Laurent Marceau (CEO) and Frédéric Stephan (Commercial Network Team Leader) talk about our positioning, our operations, our products and our plans for the future!
Today, TopTex is up to 2,000 orders dispatched daily, across Europe, from a wide choice of items from more than 40 brands. All this is made possible by our 350 employees, who work with the shared goal of providing optimum satisfaction to you, our customers.
This is an opportunity for us to tell you in more detail about what has motivated us for almost 30 years now, to show you our textile, accessories and luggage ranges, and to talk about our news and ambitions for tomorrow.
Come with us as we go behind the scenes at TopTex!
What is TopTex?
History and presentation of the group
Founded by Laurent Marti, TopTex was born in 1994 in Toulouse, in the South of France. It did not take long to develop, opening several subsidiaries in France (Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Nantes) and Belgium in just two years.
Aware of the importance of efficient logistics, TopTex invested in its warehouses, in Toulouse and Belgium, and optimised their operations over the years, eventually converting them into semi-automated depots.
At the same time, in 1996, TopTex created several brands: Kariban, PROACT®, Kimood and K-up, grouped together in 2019 under the name KARIBAN BRANDS. These brands have recently been joined by WK. Designed To Work and Kariban Premium..
Italy, Portugal and Spain: the group continues to grow across Europe, consolidating its position as the leader in personalisable textiles in France and Benelux.
Warehouse in Villeneuve-lès-Bouloc (France), which delivers to Southern European countries
Warehouse in Houdeng-Goegnies (Belgium), which delivers to Northern European countries
Our values
Above all, TopTex is a family-run business that relies on passionate and committed teams. The values that bind us all are rigour, proximity and ethics. For us, respecting our customers, teams, partners and suppliers is key, and we make their satisfaction our priority.
Our business
Our business is the sale of blank clothing and accessories for personalisation (screen printing, embroidery, transfer, etc.). Our customers are professional retailers, such as textile finishers (embroiderers, screen printers, etc.) and communications agencies.
Which brands does TopTex distribute?
With this in mind, more than 40 brands are distributed by the TopTex group, with one thing in common: they are all subject to rigorous selection, based on product quality and performance.
Some of these brands are owned by us, such as those in the KARIBANS BRANDS group, some of which are specialised in product families:
- Kariban for corporate wear
- WK. Designed To Work for workwear
- PROACT® for sports
- Kariban Premium for superior quality clothing
- et Kimood et K-up for bags, headwear and accessories
In addition to our KARIBAN BRANDS products, we are committed to offering you items from the biggest professional and advertising textile brands. These include products from Fruit of the Loom, Gildan, B&C, Russell Europe, Dickies, Result, Timberland, Puma Workwear and plenty more!
What items can be found on our website?
TopTex brings together more than 3,000 items, ranging from simple promotional t-shirts to more technical clothing!
High visibility, softshell, Cool Plus® fabric, Supima® cotton and BIONIC-FINISH® ECO treated fabric, we make sure to stay at the forefront of materials, innovations and processes that have proven their worth with the most demanding professionals and sports enthusiasts alike.
Of course, depending on the item and product type, styles are available for men, ladies, kids and even babies. Dressing our customer’s customers, whether they are associations, sports clubs, companies, artisans or student associations, is just as important in our eyes.
To help you find your way around, our products are classified by major product families, then divided into sub-categories:
- Clothing (tops, bottoms, accessories, etc.)
- Headwear (caps, beanies, hats, etc.)
- Luggage (sports, business, travel, etc.)
- Sports (clothing and accessories)
- Corporate wear: Workwear (logistics, safety, construction, artisans, etc.) and Hospitality (service, healthcare, sales, catering, tourism, etc.)
- No Label (products without a brand label or with a TearAway™ detachable label)
You will also find an environmentally friendly range, which includes organic, recycled and certified products (GOTS, OCS, GRS, RCS, STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®), as well as vegan or short circuit.
To see all our items, take a look at our catalogue.
What’s the latest news from the group?
Our teams are working passionately and rigorously to offer you service and product quality that is constantly improving. This quest for excellence involves stimulating projects and challenges based around different themes:
Eco-responsibility
In 2022, the K-loop circular economy project was initiated by Kimood and KARIBAN BRANDS to recycle and recover materials destined to be thrown away (see our detailed article).
At the same time, KARIBAN BRANDS encourages sustainable fashion through in-conversion cotton, a programme that aims to support conventional cotton producers keen to make the switch to organic farming.
Innovation and digital
We take care to regularly offer new products available on our website, which was completely redesigned and optimised in 2021 to make it easier to navigate.
In 2022, we created the TopTex blog to bring you even more advice and support. At the same time, we are continuing to implement new digital tools to streamline the customer journey, from order to final delivery.
CSR approach
Since 2021, our French subsidiary has been a member of Global Compact.
A UN programme that requires TopTex to commit to respecting ten key principles for a more sustainable society: the fight against discrimination, protection of workers, the abolition of child labour, and eco-responsible initiatives. We plan to extend this strong commitment to all our subsidiaries.
What are our plans for the future?
Many projects are in progress for the future:
- We are strengthening our CSR commitment, which is currently being assessed with the aim of obtaining the EcoVadis label for our French subsidiary.
- In the same vein, we remain attentive to the market and its developments, with the desire to continue extending our eco-responsible and sustainable ranges, while continuing our development in Northern Europe and Germany in particular.
- On the product side, workwear is expanding and we are also in the process of extending our offering in this sector thanks to WK. Designed To Work, which is working on new workwear styles.
- Finally, we are continuing our digitisation to make our website a modern and streamlined order interface. Blog articles, optimised customer pathways, new sales support tools: we will continue to offer you genuinely useful and effective solutions.
We would like to warmly thank BFM TV and its teams for dedicating an article and video to us in their “Company of the Future” section. This recognition makes us proud and motivates us to continue our development with you, the customers, as our focus and in a carefully thought out way.
We hope that this article will provide you with answers and insight about who we are and where we want to go.
Of course, our most important plan is be the on-going preferred partner of all our customers and employees, ensuring that our teams are motivated by important and rewarding commitments. All this, without ever losing sight of the objective of exceptional service, supporting you from A to Z.
Remember, TopTex advisers are at your disposal for the slightest questions about our products, services and commitments.
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