Moving into a somewhat uncharted area of the clothing industry, the Wilmington-based Queensboro Shirt Co. introduced an iPhone application, Zap Tee, this fall.

The free application allows a customer to either download a new photo or choose a previously saved image to imprint onto a shirt. 

The customer then ‘zaps’ the photo onto an electronic ‘tee,’ and the t-shirt order goes directly to Queensboro where it is processed, packaged and shipped to the customer.

“This app has huge potential,” said Fred Meyers, chairman and founder of Queensboro.

“It could revolutionize the way people think about t-shirts.”

The Zap Tee app is also compatible with the iPad and iPod Touch. Although Queensboro has not yet advertised the app, Meyers said the company has had more than 200 downloads of Zap Tee and almost 700 sessions of people using the app.

“We’ve had 20 orders in three weeks,” Meyers said of Zap Tee. “We are pretty happy that people are finding it.”

Zap Tee users may choose between white, blue or pink shirts. The app also allows users to add text to t-shirts. One Zap Tee shirt costs $9.95, which includes shipping costs. Also, Queensboro does not require customers to order a minimum number of t-shirts, and they are available in adult and youth sizes.

Originally, Meyers said the company intended to hire a developer to build the t-shirt application. But, after researching the development process, Queensboro employees decided to create the app themselves. Fabrizio Parrella developed Zap Tee using the Mac mini, and Jon Downey served as project manager.

Meyers said it took four weeks for Queensboro’s development team to come up with the first working prototype of the app. The company then submitted Zap Tee to Apple, Inc., for approval. Once the app was approved, Queensboro spent about one week designing a more functional version of Zap Tee.

“We want to give the user the ability to resize and place an image anywhere on a t-shirt,” Meyers said. “We will spend some time adding more functionality to the app.”

In an effort to make Zap Tee more user-friendly, Queensboro has already created three different versions of the app. Half of Zap Tee’s success is due to the idea itself, while the other half is the result of the idea’s execution, Meyers said.

As for future versions of Zap Tee, Meyers said he hopes to incorporate shapes, filters and tints for images used on the app.

Each week, Queensboro ships about 20,000 shirts, bags, coats and other clothing items to customers across the country. During the holiday season, the company, located at 1400 Marstellar Street, ships about 25,000 items every week.

Queensboro was established in Wilmington in 1995. It has 130 employees and a seven-member marketing team.

The majority of the company’s business operates through the Internet. Queensboro uses only digital printing, which means the ink sets directly into the shirt. This printing method helps prevent images on the clothing from fading.

When Queensboro does begin to market Zap Tee to the public, Meyers said they will start with advertising to existing customers.
The company is thinking about implementing 12 other apps, but these are still in development.