Giving Back
Our Philosophy
Intrepid Sportswear is a different kind of company. We are one of the country's premier custom sports apparel manufacturers, but we also take ping pong breaks in the office when things get crazy, name our mannequins, have Dunder Mifflin bobbleheads on our desks, and have fierce 1-throw darts matches with our FedEx drivers. We are a well-established company that has outfitted 5,000+ professional, college, high school, and youth teams nationwide, but we maintain the driven feel of a startup. The reason is, we want to give you a different experience.
We use only the highest-quality fabrics, construction, and tackle-twill embroidery in all our gear. And our prices, which are always all inclusive, are unbeatable. We offer free unlimited multi-color tackle-twill embroidery, free customization, free computerized mock ups, free samples to prove our quality, free shipping to many states, warranties on all game uniforms, and all-inclusive pricing.
That's what we deliver, but our identity runs much deeper. Intrepid’s very origins are rooted in making a positive difference, not just to our customers and employees, but to our overseas workers, our community, and society at large. This difference, which drives our culture, our success, and our relationships, is the reason you will never find a company with lower prices, more heart, and better service for premier-quality apparel. We believe direct sales without the middlemen deliver exceptional value to those who need it. When times are tough, schools, parents, and kids shouldn’t have to pay more.
Is this a naïve idealism? We think eight years of experience says otherwise. When our founder Rob’s small underdog hoops team back in Alaska made state for the first-time in its history his sophomore year, the team ordered new uniforms. Just like you, the players fundraised, hit up parents, friends, and complete strangers, scraping together enough for new suits – at about $130 each in today’s money. They were plain, screen-printed, and unworthy of the countless hours of effort the team expended. Not to mince words, they were a rip-off. The hefty cost had nothing to do with great quality or customer service, both of which were disappointingly absent. The prices were driven up by 3-4 layers of middlemen -- distributors, wholesalers, and company sales representatives -- each needing to take a cut. By the time these intermediaries finished, a uniform that should have cost $60 at best sold in excess of $130, leaving everyone but the unnecessary intermediaries worse off. Most team-sports apparel companies use a similar model.
And this inefficiency is what we wanted to change. And thanks to the overreach of most other companies, the willingness of sports uniform buyers to give us a chance, and our hard-working office and manufacturing crew, we have. The peculiarly high prices of almost all team-apparel providers has created a sizeable niche for a company (that would be us) to sell direct. It makes business sense, too, but our fidelity to high quality and low prices rests on principle. We believe in an honest, fair profit. But money isn’t what drives us at the peak of uni season to show up at 5 a.m., leave after 9, sneak in over a weekend, or give the odd discount on a difficult mistake that wasn’t ours. Making a real difference is.
Profit sharing
Our obligation to do what’s right extends beyond our US office to recognition of our shared humanity through our unique profit-sharing program for our overseas workers. In additional to paying above-market wages to our to our highly talented production savants, we allocate typically 5-10 percent of our annual net income and distribute it evenly among the workers in the form of bonuses. It’s the right thing to do. Without them, our company, our passion, and our dream of making the team apparel industry more efficient would be a true-life Mission Impossible. More than a symbolic “thanks,” it goes a long way for the men and women who have helped us outfit over 5,000 professional, college, high school, middle school, and AAU teams in all 50 states.
Keeping Prices as Low as Possible
We could make more money selling our uniforms for $140-$210 but we choose not to. This decision has prompted some competitors to say that for the exceptionally high quality of our uniforms, keeping our prices as low as we do would be our demise. These are the same folks who have admitted to us they price discriminate – for example charging a higher price to Montana coaches because ”they are used to paying more.” We think that’s wrong. Schools deserve better. And with our all-inclusive pricing, with no uniform-quality or price differentiation between professional, college, high school, or youth teams, they get it. Our pledge to you is this: we will never raise our prices unless dictated by necessity. Even then we will do so only with great reluctance. If you haven’t worked with us you might be skeptical. It’s understandable. But it won’t take long for us to prove to you that we are a different kind of company.
Reducing the Negative Impact
We even try to minimize environmental impact. We all live close to the office, walking or biking most days, and save power. At the office, we recycle everything from paper to boxes to cans, -- even bad jokes. Going green is catching on these days and there’s no harm in that. It also makes business sense because this unofficial policy allows us reduce waste and with that reduction, overheads costs. We benefit. Customers benefit. Our community benefits. It is a win, win, win.
The Bottom Line:
Each year, we sponsor selected teams, donate apparel, and support local charities. The main difference though when it comes to giving back between Intrepid and our competitors is fundamental. We don’t take tons from you now to return a few token symbolic pounds later. Through our pricing model we give hundreds of thousands of dollars to schools and teams up front, unforced, and unasked. And people are taking notice.
We think it works for us; we hope it works for you.
- Professional Quality
- Fully Customizable
- All-Inclusive Pricing
- No Minimum Orders
- Free Tackle-Twill Embroidery and Logos
- Two-Year Warranty against Defects
- Free Shipping to Many States
(Minimal charges to others) - Same or Next Business Day Response
- Free Sample Uniforms