Depew, N.Y. (WBEN) - How does one small operation in Depew get into big business with an NHL team on the other side of the country?
Since their inaugural season in 1991, the San Jose Sharks have utilized just one company in the U.S. to customize their official game jerseys. Whether it comes to jersey names and numbers, specialty jerseys or game-worn patches, the organization has relied upon Western New York owned Action Spot Sports, located along Terrace Avenue in the Village of Depew.
"We do a lot of local travel sports organizations, a little bit of high school stuff, we do stuff for teams or businesses that are all around the country," said Jeff Dungan, production manager at Action Spot Sports. "The San Jose Sharks, we've been doing their jerseys since they came in the NHL in 1991, so we've done every game jersey they've ever worn. But we do a pretty wide array of lettering."
The Action Spot Sports business began in the early 1980s with a family that had a dream of selling sports equipment, apparel and stuff like that, and then it turned into a lettering business. After starting out with school jackets, softball teams and those kind of matters, it eventually evolved into college teams and professional sports teams with sports like hockey, football and baseball.
So how did a small Western New York based sports sewing shop become the official jersey customizer for the Sharks out on the West coast? As it turns out, it was past business satisfaction that saw Action Spot Sports doing business with an NHL franchise to this day.
"The equipment manager was the equipment manager at a college, I believe it was Michigan Tech, and he got the job as the first equipment manager for the San Jose Sharks. He's still there, but he liked our work, and he took us along with him," Dungan explained. "So we've done every jersey they've worn since they came in the league. ... Whatever they needed, we've always supplied what they've needed."
How does the process work for the folks at Action Spot Sports to customize so many NHL jerseys over the course of a season for the Sharks? The brunt of the work starts just a few weeks in advance of the season after the team sends over the roster of players.
"We have some time, but not a massive amount of time to get things ready," Dungan admitted. "Last year, they went overseas, they wanted probably 300 jerseys. And we're not the largest staff, we're just a few of us. So it was a lot of work, it put us behind a little bit, but we got it done. We've never missed a deadline for them."
If the Sharks make a trade or they recall a player from the minors on short notice, Dungan says they will customize the jersey the same day and ship the jersey to San Jose overnight.
"It's a long ship, obviously, that's always a thing is, 'How do the San Jose Sharks do business across the country?' But it's worked. Somehow it's worked. UPS, I guess, is the main answer to that," Dungan said with a laugh.
How many jerseys does the team at Action Spot Sports customize every year for the Sharks?
"I would say the Sharks, themselves, probably go through 400 jerseys a year, 300-and-something. Depending on a given year, they make trades and changes, and they'll usually do three or four sets a year of home and road. They'll wear them for 18, 20, 25 games, and then switch to a new set," Dungan detailed.
Dungan and his team at Action Spot Sports also works locally with the Sabres, customizing some replica jerseys with the team and other businesses around Western New York.
This upcoming season in the NHL will be the last year the league will partner with Adidas for their jersey line, as the partnership between the two will expire come the summer of 2024. From there, the NHL will partner with Fanatics to provide the official line of jerseys for all 32 teams in the league.
No matter what the change of jersey may be in a given year, Dungan is ready for any sort of changes when it comes to customizing jerseys for any team, organization, or diehard sports fan in Western New York.
"The [jerseys] come to us with the cresting and everything already on them. We just letter the names and numbers. Every time there's a change like that, you get a little bit nervous because you don't know if they're gonna take the whole league and do it themselves. But the way they operate, I would imagine we will probably continue to do like we do, and everyone else around the country will do what they do. But I don't foresee a change, really, in that," Dungan said.
When it comes to supply of jerseys, Dungan says the sewing shop does not stock any jerseys they customize, whether it'd be locally or for the NHL teams. Those are provided to them for customization, but Dungan says there isn't anything they aren't willing to try and make personally unique.
"If it's an old school '80s hockey jersey or football jersey, show us a picture or let us know what it was and we can do it," he said. "I have capabilities of cutting pretty much anything. We have our artwork that we do right on site, so we can usually pretty much custom craft whatever you need."
You can find Action Spot Sports on social media, specifically Facebook, Instagram and Reddit. They're also available online, or via email at info@actionspotsports.com.
