We swung by Hincapie Sportswear on the way home from Thanksgiving travels to see what goes on at their Greenville, SC, offices and retail store.
With all of their manufacturing done offsite, some in a factory in South America owned by George’s extended family, the Greenville world headquarters serves as their offices, shipping and operations and a storefront showroom that’s open to the public. Oh, and a giant trophy case for George’s prolific winnings, as partially evidenced by the jerseys above.
Once behind the conference room doors, we also got a little sneak peek at some of the top-end highlights for their Spring/Summer 2011 range. C’mon in and take a look ’round…
All of the clothing in the front half of the building is current model year goods, with the full collection for both men and women. If you’re in the area and want to check it out, it’s open to the public.
Their office/HQ is pretty close to downtown Greenville, which is where the U.S. Pro Road Race Championships are held each year. We’re just waiting for them to have a rooftop kegger after party.
Behind the retail section is where the open air “cubicles” are, along with employee parking. Yes, they get a killer deal on BMC bikes, which is why there were several high end carbon bikes with employee names on the top tubes parked by desks.
All custom team stuff is made in their own facility in Columbia, South America, which is run by George and Rich’s aunt and uncle, who are long time textile folks. Besides the family connections, Steve Baker (in the photo above and their marketing director) says there are favorable trade deals for working and making goods there to encourage legitimate businesses. Hincapie’s denim products are made there, too.
Other stuff is made in Turkey (fabric welding), Canada and others. Little of it is made in Asia, though they don’t tout that as a selling point. Typically, they look for the best materials and technology to create the best items they can rather than creating a tiered portfolio based on price points. Occasionally a “wish list” feature is cut from a product to keep it on budget rather than cut corners on the quality of the parts that are used.
Design is done by Nicole Rock in Seattle who works for Hincapie exclusively. Designs are reviewed then approved at their office, then samples are made in the factories that are going to produce the finished item.
Some items are driven as much by technology as by design, and some times there’s a need (or desire in the case of their denim) and a product is designed to meet those goals.
They make the clothing for the BMC Pro Cycling Team, so they’ve got a full pro team helping with R&D.
2011 CLOTHING SNEAK PEEK
