Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - (Page 10)
Sportco
By Jennifer A. Morrell, Contributing Writer
the Team Game
Starting from its roots serving local clients, this Naperville, Ill.-based firm has evolved by doing what it has always done best — serving the team sports niche.
ric Withaar knows what it means to practice what he preaches. As a teenaged athlete and fan of athletic-inspired apparel, he was drawn to this comfortable, but expressive, type of clothing. His high school teams put him in charge of ordering uniforms, which may have been where he ignited his career. The year was 1991. Withaar took his love of athletic apparel and its style a step further when he answered a trade magazine’s classified ad seeking someone to work in the T-shirt and uniform decorating business. For $500, he received VHS tapes and catalogs introducing him to the apparel decoration world. The rest, as they say, is history. Although there wasn’t a ton of competition in 1991 compared to today, Withaar’s success was owed to a unique service he offered: personal delivery. As everyone knows, time is valuable. This is particularly true for coaches and teachers, who cannot leave their schools during the day. Withaar’s Naperville, Ill.-based company, Sportco, was a one-man operation for a couple of years, operating in a 1,000-square-foot store with a singlehead embroidery machine. His business specialized in decorating gym uniforms, letterman jackets and team uniforms — as well as company logos — for local clientele. He worked long hours to complete orders and hand-deliver them on time. A police officer shining a flashlight into his store was common, since the workload dictated working odd hours. Sales and product delivery during the day and production at night: Such was life as Withaar knew it for two years — until he took the next step of hiring his sister and fiancée in 1993 to help him with the business. That was six locations ago. Today, Sportco has 30 employees and 15 outside independent sales reps. The production capacity consists of 44
• This is Sportco’s current facility, located in Naperville, Ill. It’s much bigger than company president Eric Withaar’s initial location, a 1,000-square-foot store with a singlehead embroidery machine. All images courtesy of Sportco, Naperville, Ill.
10 • Fall 2010
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010
Flexfit/Yupoong
American Apparel
Contents
Augusta Sportswear
A&E Robison-Anton Embroidery Thread
Trends in Team Decorating
Sportco Masters the Team Game
Stahls’ ID Direct
School or All-Star Spiritwear?
Boxercraft
Dalco Athletic
Transfer Express
Gear Bag
Digital Art Solutions
Pepco Poms
Hanes
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 (Page Cover1)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Flexfit/Yupoong (Page Cover2)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - American Apparel (Page 1)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Contents (Page 2)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Augusta Sportswear (Page 3)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Augusta Sportswear (Page 4)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - A&E Robison-Anton Embroidery Thread (Page 5)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Trends in Team Decorating (Page 6)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Trends in Team Decorating (Page 7)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Trends in Team Decorating (Page 8)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Trends in Team Decorating (Page 9)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Sportco Masters the Team Game (Page 10)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Sportco Masters the Team Game (Page 11)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Sportco Masters the Team Game (Page 12)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Stahls’ ID Direct (Page 13)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - School or All-Star Spiritwear? (Page 14)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Dalco Athletic (Page 15)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Transfer Express (Page 16)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Transfer Express (Page 17)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Gear Bag (Page 18)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Digital Art Solutions (Page 19)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Digital Art Solutions (Page 20)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Pepco Poms (Page Cover3)
Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Fall 2010 - Hanes (Page Cover4)
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/impressions/digitaldecorator_2015fall
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