A Milwaukee-area clothing company is doing something no other local brand has done before. Routine Baseball of Franklin has teamed up with one of the biggest brands in baseball: Adidas.
While you may not have heard of Routine Baseball, just about everyone knows Adidas.
"We both have a similar vision with growing the game of baseball," said Routine Baseball owner Michael DeGrave.
Surprisingly, even the iconic 3 stripes has something to gain out of a collaboration with a much-smaller Wisconsin startup.
"Being that our demographic is 18-26 years old, it was a demographic Adidas was having a very hard time getting in front of," said DeGrave.
DeGrave said the conversation started with Adidas more than a year ago. They've teamed up on training shoes, cleats and a clothing line that all went on sale March 1.
"We were doing about $12 a second for the first five or six hours; it was kind of insane," DeGrave said.
The Adidas x Routine line has a "rally cap" theme down to the fine details.
"Rally cap is when your team is down going into the ninth inning and you flop the hat inside out," DeGrave said.
"Being that our strength is in the apparel side, we took what they had and kind of applied it through all of the apparel pieces," said Routine Baseball art director Shimon Croxton.
If Adidas isn't big enough exposure, a brand sponsorship with Chicago Cubs MVP third baseman Kris Bryant should do the trick.
"It really just goes to show we hit the nail on the head in 2011 when we started this all," DeGrave said.
"Being that our demographic is 18-26 years old, it was a demographic Adidas was having a very hard time getting in front of." — Michael DeGrave, Routine Baseball owner
DeGrave's clothing company went from selling shirts out of a basement to a deal with a giant in the industry. DeGrave hopes to one day be a giant of their own.
"Ideally, Routine is a household name and it's on the billboard on the stadium when you walk in," he said. "It's the next Nike, or Under Armour, Adidas."
DeGrave said they're already in talks with Adidas to collaborate for another clothing and shoe line next year.
