SS Activewear: The of Rise

S&S Activewear has gone from a successful regional supplier to a national apparel giant in ten years. This exclusive report reveals the secrets behind SS Activewear meteoric rise.

A decade ago, Top 40 company S&S Activewear (asi/84358), was a Midwestern apparel supplier that thrived mainly in its heartland markets. Bolingbrook, IL-based company has risen beyond the region to become a billion dollar company. It is a supplier that has a long reach in every market in America and Canada.

Sales have soared due to the company’s expansion across the US and its deeper penetration into its territory. This revenue increase includes a 30% year-over-2018 increase which saw S&S achieve an estimated $1.2 Billion in total company sales in 2019. The vast majority of this comes from business with SS Activewear North American promo distributors, apparel decorators and other North American businesses.

The latest Counselor State Report on the Industry shows that S&S Activewear is now the third largest supplier after posting an average annual growth rate (21.8%) over five years. Despite all the growth, S&S Activewear executives are open about their desire to increase market share. President Jim Shannon says, “There is a lot of opportunity in markets that we have just entered and markets that we’ve been strong for a while.” “We are excited to take advantage of it.”

S&S is well-positioned, judging by the past decade. The company has managed to do everything over the past decade, including vastly expanding its physical footprint and leveraging best practices in technology. It also increased its sales force by 10 times while focusing on proactive consulting selling. Counselor shines the spotlight on the strategies and execution that have led to S&S’s incredible rise.

Three years after the founding of SS Activewear, Jim Shannon joined S&S in 1991 as controller. The firm was operating in a 27,000-square foot space. Shannon says, “We were your basic fleece and T-shirt supplier, carrying a limited number of brands.” Current owners Jeff Adams and Paul Rohr bought the company in 1998. This was the pivot to the future. Rohr and Adams, who have been friends since high school and are successful businessmen, provided capital clout. S&S was able to capitalise on what the supplier saw as an industry-altering shift. The emergence of apparel, especially high quality, stylish apparel in a range of categories, was a new frontier for promotion sales.

Shannon says, “We expanded into corporate apparel and athletic apparel.” We introduced new categories, including jackets, bags and headwear. Our catalog was greatly upgraded, and now has more products. We formed partnerships SS Activewear with more vendors and brands.”

Over the next ten years, S&S continued to grow, building relationships with clients and vendors, adding product, and fine-tuning processes. They also strived for superior service and consultation. This approach made S&S a major player in the Midwestern market. The company’s leaders saw beyond the immediate skyline and began to look for new opportunities. Frank Myers, who joined S&S as COO and CFO in 2009, says that they did a thorough review of the direction the business wanted to go. “We felt there was a lot opportunity for us in other areas of the country.” Additionally, customers and vendors were keen for us to expand our reach into new markets and SS Activewear continue the work we did in the Midwest.

The acquisition of Americana Sportswear, a California-based company in 2010, was the beginning. S&S established a West Coast presence and purchased EVA Sportswear in New Jersey. This move gave S&S a strong foothold along the I-95 corridor, which includes Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.

In 2016, the company combined the three brands under the S&S umbrella. The company also launched a major expansion plan, which included opening a 473,000-square foot distribution center in Kansas City. This helped relieve the pressure on its Illinois facility, and extended one-day shipping to Kansas and Oklahoma. In the following two years, large distribution centers were opened in Fort Worth and Atlanta, Texas. A New Jersey warehouse was added to 187,000 square feet.

The supplier moved out of California last February to a larger location on the West Coast in Reno, NV. Executives claim that the 800,000-square foot facility is the largest West Coast wholesale apparel distribution center.

S&S continued its cross-country expansion by opening a new distribution centre in Lockport, IL. This 750,000-square foot facility has many sustainable features as demonstrated by the U.S. Green Building Council’s silver LEED certification. S&S expanded internationally in December 2019 with the acquisition of Technosport Canada (asi/90703). This Montreal-based wholesale clothing company has a physical presence throughout Canada via distribution centers in Alberta and British Columbia, New Brunswick as well as Ontario, Quebec, and Ontario.

S&S has 4 million square feet in all its facilities. This, according to executives, allows the company reach 98% of Americans within 2 days and 41 states in one day. Marc Vitulli (S&S vice president of marketing) says that during our national expansion, it was our commitment to bring industry’s top brands as close as possible to our customers’ ends-users.

S&S’s North American promo sales increased nearly 49% in 2018 compared to 2017. This is the highest annual growth rate among the top five suppliers in the industry with more than $600 millions in revenue. Northwestern University graduate Myers, who has previously worked in private equity and investment banking, is credited with leading the national expansion. Myers says that the nationwide expansion gave us the foundation for continuing growth. He was quick to point out that the success in new markets was a team effort. “The next steps include optimization and increasing penetration within the network via sales and marketing.”

All the apparel isn’t sold by itself. S&S’s sales team has seen a rapid growth, with 30 associates growing to 80 over the past three years. The company’s sales force has increased 10 times in the past decade. Matt O’Connor is a 20-year veteran of the industry and vice president for sales. He stated that while we were searching for people with dedication, knowledge, and drive, we were also looking for people who thrive on building relationships. We were conscious of the importance of culture in S&S’s success and we made sure to keep that core value intact as we built the team.

Outside and inside salespeople were added to regions where the company had expanded its distribution reach. However, there was also an increase in staff in areas where S&S has a long-established and highly concentrated business. S&S’s sales team is focused on consulting selling, which is a key growth driver. Keith Shannon, chief revenue officer of the company and a S&S professional since 1993, says that people like to work with people they trust and respect. He and Jim are brothers who have been a leading leadership team at S&S for many years. “We don’t want to be transactional. We want our salespeople understand their clients’ needs and wants.”