Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Vikings, Seahawks can think WSI Sports - 1/7/2016D2 • BUSINESS • STAR TRIBUNE • THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016
"We were prepared for this. We've developed a product just for
playing football at minus -20 degree windchills."
Joel Wiens, the owner of WSI Sports
ELIZABETH FLORES • eflores@startribune.com
WSI Sports owner Joel Wiens said the company will supply gear for both the Vikings and Seahawks during Sunday's game.
4 Vikings, Seahawks
can thank WSI Sports
Eagan firm will supply layers for Sunday's subzero temps
BY JOHN EWOLDT • jewoldt@startribune.com
Joel Wiens has been hoping all football sea-
45
son that an NFL playoff game would be played
in Minnesota. Not only did that wish come
„R
true, but the subzero temperatures expected
f
for Sunday's game between the Vikings and
the Seattle Seahawks fits his business like a
compression glove.
"We were prepared for this," Wiens said.
"We've developed a product just for playing
Vikings quarter
at minus -20 degree windchills."
back Teddy Bridge -
back
His company, WSI Sports in Eagan, will be
0. water (5) will very
makingcold high-performance shirts,
likely be wearing
socks and gloves for the Vikings and, in the
WSI gear onSun -
spirit of 1Vlinnesota Nice, the Seahawks too. The
fabric used is a lighter and thinner polyester
"' day, given the pro -
jetted game -time
and other materials with stretch film and high;:
temperature of -3
1,
wickingproperties. "My job is to get the player
degrees.
g
to focus on the game, not whether his toes are
cold,„ ,Wiens said.
WSI, which Wiens founded in 1990, is the
CARLOS GONZALEZ
Star Tribune
rare athletic apparel company with products
made in the U.S. The products are all designed,
�; ...
cut and sewn locally, and even the high-tech
fabric is made domestically. The company has
12 employees and contracts out much of the
sewing to Hmong families.
Wiens, 47, started his selection with pro-
tective compression hockey shorts
and has expanded to performance
clothing, including a line the co m .,
pany calls Heatr. WSI has worked
with the Vikings since the Cris Carter
days in the late 1990s and early 2000s,
See WSI on DG ►
Vikings, Seahawks can
thank Eagan's WSI Sports
WSI from DI
but the San Francisco 49ers
were the first NFL team to test
WSI's cold weather line.
Cold -weather gear is now a
WSI specialty, but it sells gear
tailored for football, base-
ball, hockey, cycling, fishing
and hunting. Nearly 20 local
retailers also sell the product,
including Dave's Sports Shop,
Play it Again Sports and Trail
Mark.
In the last five years, WSI's
business has expanded its
focus from general consum-
ers to elite athletes. Many
of WSI's main suppliers, the
small, independent sport-
ing goods stores, have nearly
vanished from the retail land-
scape.
"The big manufacturers
like Nike and Under Armour
have lined up with big retail-
ers," Wiens said. "We're at a
point where we want to be
the best, not the biggest, so
we still deal with the mom-
and-pop retailers as well as
professional sports."
The company's revenue
was several million dollars
last year, a fraction of Under
Armour's $3 billion in 2014.
Matt Walsh, a clothing buyer
for Dave's Sports Shop in
Fridley, Stillwater and Blaine,
said that a lot of people don't
know the line unless they're
coming in for cold -weather
events like hockey tourna-
ments or ice fishing. "But if
you can get them to try the
product, they like it. I think it's
better than Under Armour,"
he said.
Steve Johnson, the football
coach at Bethel University,
wishes he could afford to have
his players wear WSI's shirts
for all weather conditions,
not just cold weather. "I brag
about Joel's product but also
his service. He knows what
people need," Johnson said.
ELIZABETH FLORES • eflores@startribune.com
Yang Xiong worked on making thermal gear in Eagan at WSI
Sports, the company providing gear for Sunday's playoff game.
"My job is to get the players to focus on
the game, not whether his toes are cold."
Joel Wiens, owner of WSI
In the 2012 Division III
playoffs, Johnson called
Wiens in an emergency when
temperatures were near zero
with snow. "He had some left-
over fabric that the Packers
were using that was terrific at
keeping the core warm," John-
son said. `And the hats under-
neath the helmets were warm
but not bulky. He had people
working day and night to get
us what we wanted."
Prices for WSI are a bit
higher than for brand names
(about $15 to $200 at www
wsisports.com), but retailers
know it's a different product.
"It's made in the USA and it
functions well," said Craig
Johnson, vice president at
General Sports in Edina.
"People will pay more if they
know they can go skating out-
side and not get cold."
Many of the products
made for professional ath-
letes are made just for them.
The 49ers raved about them,
Wiens said. Peyton Manning,
the Denver Broncos quar-
terback, had a shirt custom-
made with a higher collar for
his long neck. "The Seahawks
wore our product when they 11
won the Super Bowl two years
ago," Wiens said.
Creating products
moisture wicking proper-
ties and warming elements
that don't overheat an ath-
lete is what separates WSI
from competitors, Wiens
said. "These big companies
are developing things for the
masses but not developing
stuff for the elite athlete," he
said.
Large apparel companies
often give the football teams
the gear in exchange for the
brand exposure. Wiens said
he charged about $20,000 for
a team to get WSI's socks,
gloves and shirts. "Nike won't
be happy," he said. "They'll be
wondering why the players
aren't wearing their gear."
John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633