SDR/sdr: I have bought from Teamwork in San Marcos and they have excellent pricing, as well as excellent turnaround. I also use Riddell (for apparel as well as equipment) and ASA (All-Sports America) out of PA.
I would tell your friend that the single biggest issue (other than price) is service. Generally, service is terrible and largely because the big players (like Riddell and ASA) are deluged with orders during the various seasons and thus are slow to respond. We used Riddell during our last fall season for football jerseys and got hit with not only a five week delay (meaning we were handing out jerseys a few days before our first game), but the color matching on the jerseys was horrible. Lesson learned. Had I been using a local supplier, this would have never happened. Granted, I would have paid more but, in the long run, it would have been worth it.
I would recommend having him/her contact the various organizations at the league or conference level (Little League, AYSO, NJB, Pop Warner/AYF, etc) and have a discussion regarding pricing and service. These organizations are driven entirely by price generally, but service also counts, especially with those organizations that have been burned by the big national players (like Riddell) and all of them have.
