Business Spotlight: Serious about Soccer

Justin and Kristin Lowther have been specializing in soccer supplies for 10 years, starting as early 20-something college students with roadside tables and growing into seasoned entrepreneurs with two businesses.

The husband-and-wife team still travels to 50 to 75 soccer events a year, selling gear in a mobile store set up on-site and bouncing from Vail, Colo., to Lancaster, Pa., on recent weekends. Meanwhile, they have been expanding their operations in Springfield.

The Lowthers started the business out of their home in 2002, then moved into retail space at Lake Country Soccer in 2004. They moved to the current location at 2335 E. Chestnut Expressway in 2006 and established J&K Soccer LLC in 2007, offering specialty shoes and gear on-site and online, as well as screen printing. In 2009, they doubled the Chestnut Expressway space and in December 2010 added Missouri Embroidery, 1307 S. Glenstone Ave., to offer a one-stop shop for custom sports and corporate garments and promotional items. The Lowthers purchased equipment from Embroid Me Springfield when it closed, and they took over its Glenstone Avenue space.

J&K Soccer netted $600,000 in sales of soccer shoes and gear and athletic screen printing jobs in 2010, and it is on pace for the same this year. The Lowthers estimate another $150,000 in revenues this year under the Missouri Embroidery banner – 70 percent of sales in embroidery and the remainder in corporate screen printing and promotional items.

Understanding demand and establishing relationships with vendors were crucial steps in their growth, Justin Lowther says.

“Really, just time in the field,” says Lowther, who mans the J&K Soccer store when in town while Kristin Lowther is hands-on at Missouri Embroidery.

J&K Soccer outfits high school, university and club teams with uniforms, gear and spirit wear via online ordering.

Glendale High School soccer coach Jeff Rogers says he uses J&K for some projects because he appreciates the Lowthers’ approach. “It’s streamlined everything for our club, our boosters and our kids,” Rogers says. “They can customize anything.”

Other projects are bid through the Springfield Public Schools system. For instance, the Lowthers recently submitted a $1,600 winning bid to outfit the Glendale girls soccer team with about 25 tops, 30 shorts and 15 soccer balls.

During their business adventures, the Lowthers have found that opportunities and challenges go hand-in-hand.

For instance, in the shoe department, they claim to be unique in the Ozarks in their niche of high-end soccer cleats that large sporting goods stores don’t carry. Customer service at their showroom assures the right fit, Justin Lowther says. In a recent shoe-price comparison, the Adidas Men’s F50 adiZero TRX FG-Anodized Purple/Electricity sold for $250 at the Adidas Web site. J&K sells the shoes for $200 a pair, having bought them from Adidas for approximately $165 apiece, Lowther says. However, manufacturers are raising wholesale costs while J&K must hold retail prices in check. J&K must order shoes months in advance or risk missing out on acquiring them due to manufacturers’ production schedules.

The relationship between opportunities and challenges also holds true in the embroidery business, they say. Customers like to work with one company for printing and embroidery; however, they are balking at rising costs that the Lowthers must pass on. Justin Lowther says they started charging 20 percent to 30 percent more for their services in the past year. Kristin Lowther says the price of cotton has increased 40 percent since June 2010.

Tara Meek of Meek Chiropractic says the Lowthers help her stay on budget when she comes to them with orders. Recently, Meek redesigned scrubs for doctors and staff. For embroidering 60 scrub tops, Meek paid $8.50 per item.

The Lowthers have identified the promotional-items segment of Missouri Embroidery as having growth potential. “I want to keep getting our name out there,” she says. “I don’t think we’ve seen half of our (potential customers) just because we’re so new over there. I know we haven’t.”[[In-content Ad]]