swaggr

 

swaggr is a sustainable athletic sock company based out of Boca Raton, FL. Our PerfectFIt Technology differentiates us from the market, and quite frankly, is a market disruptor. Retailers we speak to are oftentimes shocked and speechless that our socks have been specifically designed to fit a kid’s size 2 shoe through a men’s size 16, and actually do. For our e-commerce customers, the biggest problem we hear is that their spouses and kids are stealing their socks. We love it.

Sustainability is extremely important to us. Every decision we make is rooted in how it will impact the environment. For this reason, not only are the socks made from recycled plastic bottles, but the packaging we use is also made from recycled paper. For the last couple of years, we have donated 1% of our gross revenue to the Marinelife Loggerhead Center in Juno Beach, FL. They are an awesome organization that focuses on sea turtle rehabilitation. The work they do is inspirational, and we want to be part of the solution to help maintain a healthy ocean and planet for the future.

We are proud that all facets of our manufacturing process take place in the U.S. with materials sourced from the U.S. Not only does this ensure that we are helping curb the plastic issue in our own backyard, but it also means everyone who helps bring swaggr socks to life is treated fairly and paid a living wage.  swaggr does all of its manufacturing in North Carolina. We speak weekly with our manufacturer and know them on a first name basis. We love this. It creates efficiencies within our business and is another source of pride that we hold in the quality of our socks.

We know what will truly take us to where we want to go is the product. On top of the PerfectFIT Technology and recycled materials, the socks are unbelievable. They have a mesh weave on top for maximum breathability, are made with a seamless toe so there is no seam rubbing on your skin, and added cushion on the bottom for blister prevention, comfort, and durability. Lastly, they have a specially constructed heel so they stay on your foot and do not slip down and slide under the foot.

As the company currently stands there is only one full-time member, David Katz - Co-Founder & CEO. David has nearly 20 years of sales and marketing experience from a wide range of consumer-facing organizations. There are several contributing members who support swaggr’s growth on a part-time basis as well, including David’s wife, Katy Katz, Co-Founder and marketing lead. Katy has over 15 years of experience in digital marketing with an emphasis in e-commerce and consumer goods. We also have several contractors who help with marketing and sales.

Over the last three years that we have been in business, we have realized that we do not know everything. As such, we have evolved and changed. It’s not enough to just say that you have the most comfortable socks, because all companies claim to have that. To stand out online, we needed to really understand our differentiator and demonstrate a solution to a problem.

Historically, and to this day, socks are made in a lot of different size ranges. Unfortunately, these size ranges often do not fit your foot right – ending up either too large or too small. When the sock does not fit right, the benefits and features of that sock are rendered useless, and the socks break down quickly and have to be thrown out. swaggr socks eliminates this issue. With our PerfectFit Technology, and the construction of our heel, the socks stretch to form-fit in the right spots, maintaining the integrity of the sock, and leaving your feet feeling fantastic all day long.

What is exciting is that there are only a handful of well-known premium sock companies out there, and they have already educated consumers on why they need premium socks and what the premium sock market is. We are not tasked with that, it’s all about getting swaggr socks on people’s feet to experience the difference between us and everyone else out there. Companies like Bombas, Feetures, Balega, and Thorlos have done a fantastic job of creating the narrative, and now it’s swaggr’s time to outshine the competition with the quality and performance characteristics of the socks. 

swaggr was formed as an LLC in August, 2018 in Houston, TX. We had no starting capital, so we launched a crowdfunding campaign in October of 2018 with a $20,000 goal to help us raise enough money to make our first manufacturing run. We hit our goal, and a little extra, and in March of 2019 we started officially selling our socks. Still very new and with limited funds, we knew we needed an out-of-the-box way to get in front of customers. We hit the pavement and set up shop at farmers markets all over Houston. This turned out to be amazing. We built a very outspoken and loyal customer base. Farmers markets, by design, however, were just a launching pad for us to expand into different revenue streams - e-commerce and retail. From the beginning, e-commerce has been our goal to scale to get us to where we want swaggr to be. We set up our website, and David started hitting the phones with the hope of generating some retail opportunities. As we have started gaining traction on the website, we have established great retail relationships with Lands’ End, Nordstrom, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lifetime Fitness, Wantable Inc., and a handful of smaller specialty running stores around the country.  

We see swaggr in five years not just as a sustainable sock organization. We are a lifestyle brand. We want to expand into other apparel lines. People will want to be a part of the organization not just for the product, but for what the company represents - transparent communication, amazing treatment of employees, helping to save the planet, and, of course, creating outstanding products. Although the sock industry is large, there is a ton of room in the premium sock market, from a performance aspect, purpose-driven aspect, and a branding aspect. As socks have become more fashionable and our younger generations are more environmentally conscious, what the brand represents is more powerful than ever.

Since we officially launched in March of 2019 (not including the crowdfunding campaign), we have done $370,000 in lifetime sales. Our margins are 69%. With limited capital for manufacturing and marketing, we have focused a lot of our efforts on growing retail to give us a cash flow boost to fund the rest of the business. However, this does not give us the ability to scale online at the rate we aspire to. Our goal is to have the business scale through e-commerce which has high margins and have the retail side be supporting those efforts.

We are looking for a $250,000 investment. We will spend $100,000 on manufacturing so that we can purchase in bulk and knock down the cost of goods. We will spend $100,000 on marketing - particularly Amazon ads, Google ads, Facebook email collection campaigns, blog writing, and other organic opportunities. $20,000 will go towards generating new retail relationships, $15,000 will be spent on new product and lifetime photography, and $15,000 will go towards new product research and development.

Winning to us is growing this company to $200 million+, and into an organization that people want to be a part of, are excited to work for, and can make an actual difference in people’s lives.

We are so ready to get to work with a partner that shares our values, vision, and wants to work with hard-working people that want to change the world and make a lot of money doing it.

 
Customer Testimonials