Made in America socks
Swiftwick builds business
on innovation, sustainability
Posted January 12, 2015
By John McCurry
Tennessee businessman Mark Cleveland, often described as a “serial entrepreneur,” decided to enter the sock-manufacturing arena back in 2008 when he and another investor bought a small company called Swiftwick. Cleveland, who is also the owner of the Hobby Lobby store chain, had been a customer of Swiftwick, which was known at that time for custom manufacturing socks for teams and events.
Since then, Swiftwick has evolved into a fast-growing company with a diverse product line of compression socks for athletic and health care markets. The company is headquartered in the Nashville area and has a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility near Chattanooga. Swiftwick has built its business over the past five years on innovation and a reputation for sustainability.
“Cycling has been the area where we focus most of our energy since our conception,” Cleveland said.
Swiftwick offers an array of socks:
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Performance, the company’s first sock line that targets the running market;
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Aspire, a running, cycling, hockey and skiing sock that offers moisture management and linked-toe technology;
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Vibe, a more plus and colorful running sock;
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Pulse, a thin compression sock that targets track athletes;
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Pursuit, a Merino wool sock; and
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Valor, a liner sock for amputees.
Swiftwick markets the “made in America” aspect of its socks. The company also stresses the durability of its socks as a major differentiator from other manufacturers. Cleveland said consumers like to buy brands that they can connect with and are produced by companies they recognize as having a value system.
“We think there is a real appetite for made in America products,” Cleveland said. “We earn our customers’ loyalty by staying totally committed to high-end, high-performance socks. The net result is an outstanding product with no apologies. Our socks last two to four years without any performance degradation. We’re re-writing the expectations of how long a sock should last.”
Governor’s Award for international distribution
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development recently honored Swiftwick as one of three Tennessee businesses with the Governor’s Award for Trade Excellence. Swiftwick, the small company winner, is receiving the award for signing an international distribution deal with Rock Gear in Canada and for more recently securing a distribution deal with Ortho Europe, based in England. The company also has multiple commercial deals and expects more international growth this year.
Swiftwick has ambitious plans for sales in Europe and Asia. The company is seeking “best-in-class” distributors around the world, Cleveland said, and is working with economic development officials with the State of Tennessee to develop export markets.
“We are looking for sock distributors to take inventory and assist in developing local markets in whichever parts of the world we decide to tackle,” Cleveland said. “We are entertaining some Japanese relationships. We want to share the world’s best sock with running, cycling and golf enthusiasts around the world.”
Durability key to sustainability
Swiftwick emphasizes sustainability with its products. Durability is the key to sustainability, Cleveland said, because fewer socks are needed. He said Swiftwick produced the world’s first post-industrial recycled nylon socks with Unifi’s Repreve yarn. He says other types of “recycled” sock waste more water and release more toxic material than would be required to produce an original fiber.
“We optimize our manufacturing process and use materials that are not dyed,” Cleveland said. “We find that customers are very interested in buying sustainable product.”
Word-of-mouth advertising and some high profile consumers
Swiftwick does little advertising for its products. Cleveland said news spreads mostly by word of mouth, one consumer at a time. He said this helps create fans for Swiftwick socks and helps to build relationships.
“More than 70 percent of PGA professional golfers wear Swiftwick,” Cleveland said. “Adam Scott won the Master’s wearing Swiftwick. We are playing around in the thin air supply of elite athletes. Our cut-resistant socks are the best in the world and we are getting them in the hands of the National Hockey League and the Olympic team as well as youth hockey teams. These are all areas of focus for us.”
Swiftwick’s other sports clients of note include the Ryder Cup Team and several major U.S. university sports teams, including the University of Oregon, UCLA, Purdue and Vanderbilt. The company is also the exclusive sock provider for the hockey teams at Notre Dame and Penn State.
Swiftwick had considerable expertise when Cleveland and his partners bought the company in 2008. He said he subsequently “threw himself” into product development and marketing and sales.
“We were ahead of the game in recognizing how compression is an important part of athletic equipment,” Cleveland said. “We had a basic line that was very strong and successful at the time. We focused our energy in the early years making socks for teams.”
Committed to innovation
Swiftwick is committed to innovation and Cleveland said he doesn’t care what a raw material costs as long as it leads to development of a superior product.
“I’m not afraid to partner with a supplier and develop a new material,” he said. “We have won some recognition with our hockey socks in technology circles and have received some positive reviews.”
What challenges lie ahead? Cleveland said one is matching the appetite of the market with production capacity. Another is defining Swiftwick’s corporate culture and making sure everyone is lined up with the company’s work ethic and commitment to excellence. The third challenge is managing the company’s international expansion.
“I am excited to experience the expansion of Swiftwick on an international basis and learn about my partners and markets that I don’t know yet and all the expertise that will come to the table,” Cleveland said. “It will be a terrific challenge. It’s a great business that we are in and there are a lot of competitors. We want to make the world’s best sock and pretty much ignore our competition.”