We really want to congratulate you for being a young up and coming entrepreneur and providing great opportunities for others in your company! Please give us a brief summary on how it all got started? And why jerseys?? Did you start sewing jerseys yourself? Were you a jersey junkie?
Jersey Champs was started in my college dorm room at Rutgers University. Oddly enough, I never really liked wearing basketball jerseys prior but I always loved seeing jerseys of retro NBA & MLB teams. I knew there was some serious potential for jerseys as nearly all my friends wore them on a regular basis. I never created a jersey on a sewing machine myself, however all the designs are sent to me before being approved for production so I do have the final say.
As the saying goes, “Being naked is illegal”!! Also as standard business practices, you sell a NEED, not a want? SO right off the bat, you really have an edge over the majority of the retail market! Do you ever walk around the city, parties, at school etc and look at all the people walking around, and envision everybody wearing your apparel?? Are you into DESIGN??
Jerseys aren’t a NEED per se, as they are seen as clothing apparel for fans of a certain team, player, etc. However, jerseys are one of the more popular clothing items among the younger crowd, so it does present a large audience for us.
As far as envisioning my product everywhere, I think every entrepreneur does that. How could you not have that vision as a clothing company CEO? I am not much of a fashion junkie myself. Give me a jersey and a pair of basketball shorts and I’ll wear that to just about any event. Luckily owning a jersey company lets me wear jerseys casually just about anywhere.
As a competitor in the really aggressive clothing/apparel sector, how have you been able to separate yourself from other sporting clothing lines and direct jersey companies out there! Are the jerseys made in the USA?
The clothing industry is indeed competitive. We are probably one of the top sporting jersey companies in North America, and I’d attribute that to our advertising strategy. Most companies are not taking advancing of social media marketing and we managed to capture a large portion of the market by hoping on that trend so early. As more companies are getting involved, it’s become saturated, but still our main source of traffic. We look to move on to other advertising outlets to stay on top of our competition.
We have factories both domestically in the United States, Asia & Pakistan.
Do you remember the exact day that you decided to take huge risk and start this company? If so, what were the first steps you took to get this idea and make it into a reality!
Yes, I started the website using BlueHost from my college dorm room. I was so excited I think I stayed up all night creating the site which looked like a piece of shit. Looking back at the old site layout now makes me cringe and it used to crash every 5 minutes.
Are you a huge Hip Hop fan? Any independent Hip Hop artists you support? Do you collab with Hip Hop artists to help grow brand awareness?
Yes, I am a fan of Hip hop music. Jersey Champs has collaborated with a ton of hip-hop artists. Both major and underground. This might be cliche, but we support any artist(as long as they can sell jerseys).
Ever plan of opening a flagship retail store? And if money was no option, what city and state would you want to open one it!
Retail sales are dropping year-by-year as eCommerce goes up every year, so probably not. But if I had the choice probably somewhere very warm like Miami or somewhere in Cali as many people wear basketball jerseys in warmer climates!
Please tell us about your team, key players involved who help with JerseyChamps.com.
We have a very close team of around 15 people. Positions such as graphic designers to create jersey designs, brand ambassadors at universities, programmers to help with the website & virtual assistants to handle customer service.
Where do you see your company 5yrs from now? (2023)
Wow, that’s tough to answer and I don’t wan’t to be overly optimistic, but hopefully on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and living somewhere nicer then my moms house.
For the final question, what advice do you have for all the young entrepreneurs out there who are trying to make it in the clothing/apparel business? Any gems you want to drop??
The great thing about entrepreneurship is the more work you put in, the more success you will have, unlike a typical job paid on an hourly basis. So if starting a business is something you are truly passionate at, then go out there and hustle. Network with like-minded individuals and grow together with them.
Please drop all your links and where can fans find the latest in jerseys!?
JerseyChamps.com
Instagram.com/JerseyChampsLLC
Please visit https://www.jerseychamps.com/collections/hip-hop-rap-jerseys for more great custom Hip Hop jerseys!
