Nostalgia can be a powerful motivator for buyers. And one business is mixing that sentiment with the sports world by offering custom jerseys made to look like old school products. Custom Throwback Jerseys started as a passion project but has since grown to reach customers around the world. Read more about the company in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Creates authentic sports apparel from years past.
Founder Mark Davis told Small Business Trends, “Custom Throwback Jerseys produces hand-stitched retro jerseys from the MLB, NHL, and NFL leagues. Each jersey is detailed by the precise specifications of the year, team, and player requested!”
Business Niche
Attention to detail.
Davis says, “We take special care to make sure our jerseys are high-quality and match the vintage jerseys down to the stitch. We pride ourselves on never taking the “easy” way out when it comes to our processes so that we provide the best products possible and ensure our customers are happy!”
How the Business Got Started
As a passion project.
Davis explains, “I’ve always been involved in sports and have a passion for throwback-style clothing. I founded Custom Throwback Jerseys as the ideal combination of both of these interests! It’s very rewarding to be able to work in an industry I love.”
Biggest Win
Mastering their specialization process.
Davis says, “Our team was laser focused on finding the perfect combination of materials, details, and stitching processes for our jerseys. It took us time to dive into the history of the games, teams, and players to make sure each aspect of our products were accurate. Ultimately, all the research was well-worth the effort as that’s now the key factor our business is known for and truly shaped our brand.”
Biggest Risk
Getting into a volatile industry.
Davis adds, “The licensed sports apparel business is a very volatile industry with leagues changing manufacturers frequently. Because of the constant changes, many jerseys can suddenly become limited in availability, completely out of stock, or show massive influxes in price. To combat this issue, we decided to take a risk by purchasing thousands of jersey styles from our suppliers in advance without knowing for sure whether customers would buy them all. However, our risk paid off and now we have desirable product to sell long after our competitors ran out of inventory in these jersey styles.”
Lesson Learned
Take advantage of the online market.
Davis says, “We would have opened our online site much earlier, as the site has brought our amazing products to thousands of buyers who love retro style jerseys.”
How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
Growing the team.
Davis explains, “We would definitely use the money to invest in adding to our production staff team, as we struggle to keep up with the current demand of our jerseys.”
Favorite Team Memory
A special NHL game.
Davis says, “Our staff was recently invited to a NHL Hockey game where several retired NHL stars were being honored. The retired players wore Custom Throwback Jerseys during the opening puck drop. After the game, the players gave the jerseys back to us with the addition of their signatures! We subsequently donated these jerseys to a local charity event where they fetched a nice return during a charity auction. It was an incredible experience that showed the generous spirit of our industry.”
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Images: Custom Throwback Jerseys, Mark Davis