Guide

How a merch program works

The old way to do restaurant merch was a designer, a 200-piece minimum order, and a stack of boxes in the office. Here is how a modern, managed program runs instead, from first mockup to monthly check, with zero inventory and no work for your managers.

The customer store, step by step

Share your brand

Logo, colors, the vibe of the room. A short chat covers it, no creative brief, no meetings if you don't want them.

Review real designs

We design a small collection in your brand, by hand, and send mockups on real products. You react, we revise, unlimited rounds. Nothing gets printed without your approval.

Launch the store

You get a branded store URL plus the in-store assets that actually move units: QR cards by the register, table tents, a poster, and a simple launch playbook for email and social.

Orders fulfill themselves

Every item is produced only after a customer orders it, then ships straight to their door. No minimums, no boxes in your kitchen, no one on your team touching fulfillment.

Track it all in your portal

Every client gets a login to MerchLocal's proprietary client portal: see your products, approve new designs, check order status, and watch what's selling, all in one place, without emailing anyone.

Get the monthly check

You earn a share of every order and get a monthly payout, with visibility into what sold, so the next drop is informed by real data instead of guesses.

What it costs Nothing upfront. No setup fees, no monthly fees, no inventory buy. The program pays for itself out of each sale, which means it is never a line item you have to defend.

The portal is the difference

Most merch vendors run on email threads and spreadsheets: you ask for a status, someone gets back to you Thursday. MerchLocal is built on a proprietary client portal we developed specifically for restaurants, and it changes how the whole program feels:

Approve designs in one click. New mockups land in your portal; you approve or comment right there, and production only ever starts on an approved design.
Order status without asking. Every uniform order shows where it is, from quote to production to delivery, so nobody has to chase a thread.
One login per team. Owners, GMs, and managers each get access scoped to their location, so a multi-location group sees everything and a store manager sees their store.
Budgets and history in one place. What you've ordered, what it cost, and what's live in your store, no spreadsheet required.

It's the difference between having a merch vendor and having a merch program.

The uniform side

Staff uniforms run on the same rails, priced at wholesale instead of retail. You send sizes ("6 small, 12 medium, 6 large"), we send back a quote and a payment link, and the order goes into production the day it is paid. Typical turnaround is about two weeks from approval to the box arriving at the restaurant, with tracking along the way.

A private staff page with discounted pricing is standard, so new hires order their own kit in minutes and nobody keeps a size run in the back office.

What stays on your plate

Approving designs. You are the taste filter; nothing ships without your sign-off.
Telling your regulars. The QR card by the register and one Instagram post do most of the work.
Cashing the check. That is the whole list.

Curious whether merch is worth it for your restaurant in the first place? Start with why restaurants should sell merch, the honest margin math is there.

See your restaurant's merch before you commit

Tell us about the place and we'll send mockups in your brand. No fees, no obligation.

Start a project