blog · team stores · 1 comment ·Sep 21, 2018

Team Stores – An Idea Turned Reality That Makes Team Apparel Buying Better, Easier, and Hassle-Free

For over three decades, Boathouse has committed itself to making the life of the athlete and team better. We’re well known for our Elite Performance Outerwear and Gore-Tex Waterproof Jackets that allow athletes the ability to perform their best, during any weather conditions. We invented the Orbital Shoulder Gusset to provide athletes total freedom of movement in most classic windbreaker styles. In the beginning of the 21st century, we introduced USA–made sublimated performance apparel for lighter, faster, better team uniforms and training gear. We do this because we are dedicated to great products and world-class service for athletes and teams. Innovations such as these that improve the daily lives of athletes have always been part of our ethos.

Innovations are not limited to just product and apparel – we’ve done the same with our technology.

Boathouse developed the original team store and went live with the first fully-integrated Team Store on the planet in March of 2008. Today we're on our fourth platform and still continue to make improvements on how we deliver our premium custom outerwear and custom uniforms to you and your teams everyday. The idea of an online Team Store is a simple one – if we can provide a collection of Boathouse athletic apparel branded exclusively to your team that's designed by your team, accessed only by your team, and delivered directly to each player on your team, we can make your life a heck of a lot easier.

A Simple Idea That Saves Coaches, Athletic Directors, Boosters and Parents time, money and stress

Team Stores started as an idea in the mind of our CEO and our Connecticut sales rep “Boathouse Bob” that was pitched to schools in Connecticut in late 2007. The two Boathouse brains went our for a beer to discuss what they had just heard from many potential customers: “I hate being responsible for ordering apparel for the team – It sucks! I’ll never do it again…what can you do to make it easier and get my business?

After a few beers they came up with the idea that if they could somehow build an online application created solely for a team, branded to the team, with product designed exclusively for the team that each team member could order from, pay online, and have it delivered directly to their home they could save AD's, Coaches, Parents and Boosters significant time, money and aggravation.

Everyone liked the idea, so John and Boathouse Bob had to figure out how to actually do it!

Strotbeck and Boathouse Bob sought out a handful of people that they knew in the corporate fulfillment business who were doing elements of what they needed to create the first Team Stores platform. Over the next 60 days, they designed what they thought was a good platform for custom team stores although there was a big logistics issue: the ordering platform was in Connecticut, the Boathouse manufacturing facility is in Philadelphia, and our fulfillment center was in a third location. No worries, John and Boathouse Bob forged ahead and launched the very first team store on the planet on March 10, 2008. The store was built for Trinity College who to this day continues to open their store three times per year.

Here's Why Boathouse is the authority on Team Stores:

Fully integrated eCommerce. People get what they order delivered right to their door in 4 weeks or less.
Full team apparel capability. Boathouse puts all your Team gear online including custom uniforms. We offer our factory to our customer’s fingertips, allowing them the freedom and power to design their own uniforms and gear based on their specific team needs.
Ships Factory Direct from Philadelphia USA. Everything is under one roof – the product design, the webstore design, product manufacturing and the delivery. We own it all. We are the Authorities.
Better Price. In general, Boathouse products on Team Stores are significantly less expensive than the brand team stores.
Athletic Directors, Coaches, Parents and Boosters don’t do a thing. We handle everything – saving you time and stress.
Boathouse Team Stores are designed to support team fundraising

The pursuit of greatness in athletics is a long road. At Boathouse we’ve been on this journey for many decades, and will continue to refine and improve our products and services to remain the premier company for teams and team stores. Visit Build A Team Store and fill out the contact form at the bottom to learn more about building a team store or check out some of the Team Store Examples below.