Boathouse Sports owner finds apparel performs

What do former Olympic athletes do when the Olympics are on TV?

Watch them, of course, like the rest of the world. But if you're John Strotbeck, member of the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic rowing teams, you keep one eye on the athleticism and the other on the team uniforms.

Forget the buzz and controversy over the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit or women's beach volleyball attire.

What got Strotbeck's competitive juices flowing was when the numbers peeled off the uniforms of several players for the U.S. men's and Brazilian women's soccer teams during early-round games last week.

Wardrobe malfunctions like that give him ammunition when he tells customers that his Boathouse Sports Ltd. makes performance-fabric team uniforms that are better than those by Nike Inc., Reebok International Ltd., Adidas AG and other brands.

"It's great to compete against the best," Strotbeck said. "It makes us better."

Sports apparel is big business. The NPD Group Inc.'s Consumer Tracking Services said retail sales totaled $48 billion for the 12 months ended June 30.

Boathouse is one of about 2,000 companies that target the middle of the market - college, high school and club teams that need uniforms every year.

That's a lot of uniforms. An estimated 31.6 million children ages 6 to 17 play on team sports, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

Boathouse is a relatively new player producing team uniforms. It started as a retailer selling outerwear and other gear for rowers. In the '80s, as an athlete training with the Vesper Club and rowing in all kinds of weather, Strotbeck said he knew the value of clothing that fit, moved, and kept you dry. When he wasn't on the Schuylkill, he worked at the shop.

After the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Strotbeck returned to Philadelphia and bought the business in 1989. He turned it into a custom manufacturing business making rowing jackets and other athletic apparel.

Ten years ago, Boathouse employed 125 people and was doing about $10 million in sales. It is much bigger now, with a workforce of 275 people. While the private company does not disclose its financial results, Strotbeck did say that his goal was to build it to $75 million in annual sales.

The catalyst for its growth in the team-uniform business has been Boathouse's investment in 2005 in a technology called sublimation to produce highly customized performance apparel for athletes.

Using machines that look like oversize inkjet printers, the company prints out the design of a jersey, for example, on special paper. The dyes are transferred onto white performance fabric. Once the image is imbedded into the fabric, the jersey is cut, sewn, labeled, bagged, boxed and shipped from its Hunting Park factory.

From time of order to out the door, the whole process takes 10 to 15 days, Strotbeck said. However, the company has done it much faster - from a matter of hours to three or four days.

Altheus Health & Sport, a Rye, N.Y., fitness and personal-training center, uses Boathouse to outfit its coaches. Rocco Greco, its vice president of operations, said he was impressed by the apparel's comfort and durability and Boathouse's ability to turn around orders quickly.

David Brookstein, dean of the School of Engineering and Textiles at Philadelphia University, said sublimation gives a company a lot of design flexibility. And it is perfect for short production runs of customized apparel, he said.

Boathouse's business model of customized apparel is why all its employees work under one roof. Compare the 40 cents per hour that apparel workers may make overseas with the $12 per hour of a Boathouse factory worker and the advantage of off-shoring is clear. But that also means the big brands need longer lead times to fill team orders and often offer fewer color and design choices, Strotbeck said. And he still takes pride in that "Made in the USA" label his company can use.

In late 2005, Strotbeck found financial backing for his growth scheme from Sherbrooke Capital Inc., a Massachusetts venture capital fund that specializes in companies in the health and wellness industry.

Managing general partner John K. Giannuzzi would not disclose how much his firm invested. But he did say he was excited by what the company had accomplished.

Boathouse currently produces team uniforms for eight sports: men's and women's lacrosse, track and field, field hockey, softball, basketball, volleyball and, naturally, rowing. It is preparing to launch a soccer line this fall. And Strotbeck promises the numbers will not peel off Boathouse's soccer uniforms.