A uniform might seem simple: Give each team member a couple shirts, and you’re done. But retailers are finding new ways to use uniforms for messaging and to keep team members happy.

For example, at the height of the pandemic, Lonnie McQuirter, the operator of 36 Lyn Refuel Station in Minneapolis and a NACS board member, gave his team members t-shirts that read “The whole world is short staffed right now. Be kind to those who showed up.”