CARY, N.C. - Yarn is twisted in Hickory. Leather is sourced from High Point. Liners come from Burlington.
That’s part of the Cary-based Stitch Golf’s production line that snakes across the state in tracks left by a deflated furniture industry.
More than two years ago, Charlie Burgwyn packed a suitcase and went door to door, factory to factory, county to county. He was looking for a line of products and services that would allow him and his partner to build a company around a sleek, leather golf-club cover that was “Made in the U.S.” with a price between $29 and $55.
Determined to find vendors within driving distance from Cary, Burgwyn stopped in nearby Hickory, High Point, Albemarle and Troy.
“Everywhere that they had some type of manufacturing of textiles,” he said.
The company shipped its first cover on Nov. 21, 2011, to the Winged Foot Golf Club, 25 miles north of New York City. Since then, Stitch Golf has manufactured 200,000 club covers and taken in several millions of dollars in revenue, distributing to 1,200 private clubs and resorts across the U.S.
While the “shop local” message is emphasized by campaigns - such as the fourth annual Small Business Saturday - some businesses and organizations are highlighting the benefits of taking that practice to another level through local business-to-business sourcing.
Retailers might not be able to coordinate an entire manufacturing process, but it’s possible to incorporate some locally made specialty items and turn to local businesses for services and items such as rug cleaning, tax calculations and supply paper and ink, said Jennifer Martin, executive director of Shop Local Raleigh, an arm of the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association in North Carolina’s capital.
“In the last three months, we have really started making this a big focus of what we are doing,” Martin said.
Studies have shown that when consumers buy products and services from independent, locally owned businesses instead of from big-box retailers, it helps to strengthen the community’s economic base.
When small-business owners use local business-to-business providers and vendors, it takes the “shop local” practice full circle and makes that multiplier effect that much stronger, Martin said.
It may take owners more time to find the most appropriate service providers, Martin said, but the advantages include working with professionals who are more vested in community business and who can offer personalized services and products.
Shop Local Raleigh has created a business-to-business service section to help small businesses find the services they need.
When Burgwyn set out on his quest, he wasn’t really thinking about the shop local movement, he said. He was thinking about the hassles of shipping overseas and the importance of quality control.
Burgwyn and business partner Steve Pena founded Stitch Golf in 2011.
Burgwyn talked to owners of businesses in the furniture and textile industry, looked at equipment and helped everyone to visualize the possibilities of entering the golf industry.
Not everybody was accepting, but once they understood the volume, “they changed their tune,” he said.
After Winged Foot, Stitch Golf sold to Pinehurst Resort. In 2012, the company went to the U.S Open and the PGA Championship.
“It just quickly snowballed, and you know everybody else wanted to have a Stitch cover in the shop,” Burgwyn said. Now they are distributing their covers in Japan, South Korea, Germany, Canada and major U.S. retailers.
Stitch Golf ’s Cary home base employees 12. They also have 20 independent sales representatives and contracts with various businesses, including four sewing facilities.
Altogether, there are about 45 people across the state on the average workday creating Stitch Golf covers, he said.
The company keeps a few thousand covers in its inventory for online sales, but it otherwise manufactures product in response to demand. That system is what drove Stitch Golf to be a profitable, debt-free business in a short period of time.
Stitch Golf is also launching a new knit club cover product, which translates into 10 new employees and more work for nearby vendors.
Business, Pages 64 on 12/29/2013