Blue Generation
Blue Generation is a privately held U.S. promotional apparel supplier, founded in 1944, that sells logo-ready polo shirts, woven shirts, fleece, activewear, servicewear, custom sublimated apparel, and headwear exclusively through a network of registered promotional products distributors and dealers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1944
- HeadquartersLong Island City, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Blue Generation does
Blue Generation is a U.S.-based supplier of logo-ready apparel serving the uniform, corporate, and promotional products markets. Founded in 1944 and operating as a division of the privately held New York corporation M. Rubin & Sons Inc., the company maintains its headquarters at 34-01 38th Avenue in Long Island City and ranks 31st among North American promotional suppliers with $61.4M in 2023 revenue.
The company's product platform spans more than 15 apparel categories, including polo shirts, woven shirts, hoodies and fleece, t-shirts and activewear, ladies' coordinates, servicewear, custom sublimated apparel, youth apparel, and (since January 2025) headwear via a Cap America partnership. Curated sub-brands — Essentials Collection, Executive Collection, BG Studio Collection, Untucked Collection, and the Tried True & Blue best-sellers guide — segment the catalog by use case and price point. Operations are supported by digital catalogs on the Zoomcatalog platform, custom catalog/flyer builders, virtual sample requests, and a dealer-gated e-commerce portal with separate retail and net price lists.
Blue Generation runs an indirect, channel-led go-to-market model. The company does not sell directly to end customers; instead, registered promotional products distributors and dealers purchase blank or decorated apparel and resell/imprint it for corporate branding, trade shows, employee uniforms, and promotional merchandise programs. Distribution is reinforced through wholesale partnerships — most recently Apparel Coast to Coast (April 2026), which stocks eight core styles at its Virginia distribution center for 1-2 day fulfillment across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast and free-freight consolidated ordering — and through the One Stop Inc. apparel platform.
Blue Generation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Blue Generation
- Legal name
- M. Rubin & Sons Inc.
- Website
- https://bluegeneration.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1944
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Blue Generation is a privately held U.S. promotional apparel supplier, founded in 1944, that sells logo-ready polo shirts, woven shirts, fleece, activewear, servicewear, custom sublimated apparel, and headwear exclusively through a network of registered promotional products distributors and dealers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Blue Generation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Promotional Apparel
- NAICS
- Apparel Manufacturing (315)
- SIC
- Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Branded Merchandise & Promotional Apparel Wholesale (CRAOADAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Branded Merchandise & Corporate Gifts (BPAFAMAA), Workwear, Uniforms & Corporate Apparel Wholesale (CRAOADAF)
Keywords
Where Blue Generation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Long Island City
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Blue Generation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Promotional Apparel Sales: Blue Generation generates revenue through the sale of promotional apparel and branded merchandise to distributors and corporate customers. The company offers polo shirts, woven shirts, hoodies, fleece, t-shirts, activewear, ladies' coordinates, servicewear, and headwear products. Revenue model is primarily wholesale/B2B with bulk ordering through dealer network.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Blue Generation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Blue Generation is a wholesale supplier of logo-ready promotional apparel, offering a comprehensive catalog of blank and decorated apparel — including polo shirts, woven shirts, hoodies, fleece, t-shirts, activewear, ladies' coordinates, servicewear, custom sublimated apparel, and headwear — to promotional products distributors, dealers, and corporate customers. The company provides integrated decoration services through its One Stop Decoration Solution and supports dealer success with digital catalogs, sales tools, free freight programs, and fast regional fulfillment via distribution partnerships.
Product overview
Blue Generation is a Counselor Top 40 promotional apparel supplier offering a comprehensive portfolio of imprinted and blank apparel products. The company operates as a single product platform with multiple organized product categories including Polo Shirts, Woven Shirts, Hoodies & Fleece, T-Shirts & Activewear, Ladies' Coordinates, Servicewear, and Custom Sublimated Apparel. These products are further organized into targeted collections such as Essentials, Executive, Studio, and Untucked Collections. In 2025, Blue Generation expanded into headwear through a partnership with Cap America. The company primarily serves promotional products distributors who imprint and resell to end clients, offering free freight programs, consolidated ordering through partnerships like Apparel Coast to Coast, and comprehensive marketing resources including digital catalogs, lookbooks, and size charts.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- BG Studio Collection: A fashion-forward collection of apparel featured in the BG Studio Collection catalog, targeting contemporary and style-conscious markets.
- Essentials Collection
- Executive Collection
- Tried True & Blue
Products and services
- Polo Shirts Core promotional apparel category featuring diverse polo shirt styles (Colorblock, Cotton, Heather, Versatile, Moisture Wicking, Tipped, Nailhead, Superblend, Snag Resistant, Soft Touch, Textured Mesh, Ultra-Lux, Value, Tonal Stripe, Hi-Vis) sold blank to promotional products distributors and dealers for decoration and resale to corporate customers.
- Woven Shirts Business-casual and professional woven shirt collection (Camp Shirts, Cotton Twill, Crossweave, Oxford, Peach Touch Twill, Stretch Poplin, Superblend Poplin, Value Poplin, Untucked, Denim, Printed Camp, Ginghams/Plaids/Stripes, Comfort Stretch) sold to promotional products distributors and dealers for decoration and resale.
- Hoodies & Fleece Outerwear and fleece category (Triblend Hoodies, Premium Hoodies, Micro Fleece Favorites, Essential Fleece Hoodies, Colorful Drawcords & Zipper Pulls) supplied blank to promotional products distributors for decoration and resale.
- T-Shirts & Activewear Athletic and active-lifestyle apparel (Athletic Pullovers, Performance Heather T-Shirts, Performance T-Shirts, Triblend T-Shirts, Colorblock T-Shirts) sold blank to distributors for decoration and resale to corporate, team, and event customers.
- Ladies' Coordinates Coordinated women's apparel collection (Mix & Match Ensembles, Pants, Cardigans & Flyaways) for coordinated professional looks, supplied to distributors for decoration and resale.
- Servicewear Workplace and hospitality uniform apparel (Bistro Styles/Vests, Hi-Vis Workwear, IL-50 Rental Friendly Polos, Pants & Shorts, Tactical Polos, Aprons, Scotchgard Protection) for healthcare, restaurant, and hotel uniform programs.
- Custom Sublimated Apparel
- Youth Apparel
- Headwear (Cap America)
Companies that use Blue Generation
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Blue Generation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Blue Generation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Apparel Coast to Coast (ACC)coreBlue Generation partnered with national wholesaler Apparel Coast to Coast to stock eight core high-volume styles at ACC's Virginia distribution center. This partnership enables distributors to combine Blue Generation products with other brands in single orders to meet free-freight thresholds. Customers in Mid-Atlantic and Southeast states receive one-to-two day delivery. The alliance reflects broader industry trends toward faster fulfillment and consolidated ordering.
- Cap AmericacoreBlue Generation formed a strategic partnership to offer Cap America's headwear products including caps, beanies, trucker hats, and performance headgear. This marks Blue Generation's first entry into the headwear category, expanding their product offerings. Cap America products became available on Blue Generation's website starting January 2, 2025. Cap America ranked 25th among North American promotional suppliers with $69.7 million in revenue.
- One Stop Inc.minorOne Stop Partnership enabling Blue Generation products to be featured on One Stop Inc.'s apparel platform, providing additional distribution channel for Blue Generation products to One Stop's dealer network.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Blue Generation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Outdoor Cap: Outdoor Cap is a wholesale headwear supplier specializing in caps, beanies, and performance hats for the promotional and team sports markets. Comparable to Blue Generation's headwear expansion and shared promotional products channel customers.
- alphabroder: alphabroder is a leading wholesale distributor of imprintable apparel and accessories serving promotional products distributors and decorators. It competes head-to-head with Blue Generation for the same dealer customer base across polos, woven shirts, fleece, and activewear with a similar B2B wholesale model.
- S&S Activewear: S&S Activewear is a large wholesale apparel and accessories distributor serving screen printers, embroiderers, and promotional distributors. Highly comparable to Blue Generation in business model (B2B wholesale of blank apparel), customer base, and product breadth across t-shirts, fleece, and activewear.
- Sanmar: Sanmar is one of the largest wholesale apparel suppliers in the promotional products industry, offering blank and decorated apparel across an extensive catalog. It is directly comparable to Blue Generation in target customer (promotional distributors) and product breadth across polos, woven shirts, fleece, and activewear.
- Richardson: Richardson is a leading wholesale headwear brand supplying caps and beanies through the promotional products and team sports channels. Directly comparable to Blue Generation's newly launched headwear line via the Cap America partnership, serving overlapping promotional products distributors.
- Cap America: Cap America is a top-ranked North American promotional headwear supplier (ranked 25th with $69.7M revenue) that is both a partner and competitor to Blue Generation's newly launched headwear line. Directly comparable in promotional products channel and direct overlap in headwear product category.
- Apparel Coast to Coast: Apparel Coast to Coast is a national wholesale apparel distributor that partners with Blue Generation to stock core styles at its Virginia distribution center. Operates in the same promotional/wholesale apparel channel with overlapping distributor customer base and similar product categories.
Broad incumbents
- Next Level Apparel: Next Level Apparel is a wholesale apparel manufacturer focused on premium blank tees, tanks, and fleece for the imprintable and promotional market. Comparable product overlap with Blue Generation's t-shirt and fleece categories and the same distributor customer base, though with a manufacturing-led cost structure.
- Threadfast Apparel: Threadfast Apparel is a wholesale apparel brand offering blank tees, fleece, and activewear designed for the imprintable and promotional products market. Comparable to Blue Generation's t-shirt, fleece, and activewear categories with the same distributor customer base, though operating from a manufacturer-led position.
- BELLA+CANVAS: BELLA+CANVAS is a major apparel manufacturer/wholesaler specializing in premium blank tees, fleece, and activewear sold through the imprintable apparel channel. Comparable to Blue Generation's blank apparel categories (t-shirts, activewear, fleece) and the same distributor customer base, though operating from a manufacturing-led position.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Blue Generation social profiles
Digital presenceBlue Generation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Blue Generation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Blue Generation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Blue Generation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Blue Generation
What does Blue Generation do?
Blue Generation is a wholesale supplier of logo-ready promotional apparel, offering a comprehensive catalog of blank and decorated apparel — including polo shirts, woven shirts, hoodies, fleece, t-shirts, activewear, ladies' coordinates, servicewear, custom sublimated apparel, and headwear — to promotional products distributors, dealers, and corporate customers. The company provides integrated decoration services through its One Stop Decoration Solution and supports dealer success with digital catalogs, sales tools, free freight programs, and fast regional fulfillment via distribution partnerships.
Is Blue Generation a public or private company?
Blue Generation is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Blue Generation founded?
Blue Generation was founded in 1944. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Blue Generation based?
Blue Generation is headquartered in Long Island City, United States, in the North America region.
How does Blue Generation make money?
One revenue line is on record: promotional Apparel Sales.
Who are Blue Generation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Outdoor Cap, alphabroder, S&S Activewear, Sanmar, Richardson, Cap America and Apparel Coast to Coast. Broad incumbents are Next Level Apparel, Threadfast Apparel and BELLA+CANVAS.
Does Blue Generation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Blue Generation.
What industry is Blue Generation in?
Blue Generation's product category is Promotional Apparel. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAOADAI, Branded Merchandise & Promotional Apparel Wholesale, with a secondary code of BPAFAMAA, Branded Merchandise & Corporate Gifts. Its NAICS code is 315 and its SIC code is 5130.