Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. All right, let me throw out one metric. I guess I kind of got to do this. The global sportswear market size valued at nearly four hundred and thirteen billion dollars in twenty twenty two, estimated to reach nearly seven hundred forty nine billion by twenty thirty one. And listen, there's a lot of players in it and looking to take a share of it.
Is a partnership. Our next two guests, both with brands that are very well known now with a combined brand known as Greatness Wins.
So let's get to the interview with more joining us here in the studio. The founder of Vuntucket, who came up with the idea for his casual shirts while working at GE Healthcare. Chris Ricobono back with us, Also with US Hall of Fame shortstop and five time World Series champion with the New York Yankees. Also an e commerce investor to Derek Jeter, both here in the Bloomberg BusinessWeek studio. Okay, guys, first up, we want to know how you guys got together.
How did this come together? Who called who? Who had the idea for who to get involved. How did it come ab out?
That's a good question, and you start, we'll see where version comes out.
I was going to say Derek reached out to me, but that's not how it worked. So I over the pandemic. I was looking to solve another problem in the fashion industry, and I thought about athletic apparel and it didn't exist for me. Something that had a great fit but also had performance first in mind. So I came up with this concept in this idea, but now I wanted a
few athletes behind me. And at the time, I think Derek might have still had a contract with Nike or it was winding down, and I didn't think that I could get to him or that he'd be interested. But after a year of bothering him and his agents, he actually called me and said, Chris, I'm just not that interested and excited in this. But I said, he can't get off say he can't get off the phone, Derek, how can I get you excited? So we talked for a while after that, and we kind of came together
with both of our visions. You know, I'm apparel guy. That's the way I think about it. Derek's was a successful entrepreneur but also very successful, as you know, a Nike guy, So I knew that he had a lot of insight that I didn't have, and he shared it with me, and we launched a brand about a year and a half ago and we're having great success.
Okay, you weren't excited and then you became excited. How that happened? How did you make that turn?
Well?
I think you know, first and foremost getting to know Chris, we talked about the idea. I've had relationships with athletic brands throughout my career and great relationships and I still do today. And you know, when I was first speaking to Chris, I was like, well, first of all, you know, this is a crowded space. It's not as easy to attack this space, and it's going to take some time
and it's going to take a lot of energy. And I wouldn't say I wasn't excited, but I when I do something, I'm all in and if I'm not all in, I'm just not going to do it. And at that point when we were having the discussion, I said, you know, I don't think now is the time. And then we actually got together, we had a chance to look and feel and touch the product, and that started getting me very very excited about it. So I guess that's the best way to put it in our short period of time.
You do, though, Derek, probably get a lot of investment pitches, not just in the apparel world, but yeah, no question, from lots of different entrepreneurs who want your involvement. What was it specifically about this one with Chris with Untucket that really caught your eye?
I think it's you got to get to know the people any business that you're in the same thing, when you're on a team on the field, you have to have the right people on the side.
Yeah.
I was going to say that, but you didn't give me enough time to say. And you know, I just found Chris to be very very passionate about it. You can't fake passion. You either are you aren't. And you know, even when I told him that I wasn't interested, he kept calling and we kept having the conversation, and I knew when you're if you're going to be successful, you need those types of people on your side.
I always think about that. I remember talking to a top m and a banker and he's like, the only way you get deals done. Is this CEOs have to like each other and that's how you get things come to the table. Would you say no to a great deal because you didn't like somebody.
Oh, without a doubt. I mean you end up working a lot. It's funny when Derek said that he wanted to be more involved and he when he goes all in, I was thinking he was just doing that as an equity play to get some more equity. Yea, that he actually want it to be. And Derek's liked. I mean, he wants to talk about everything, every decision, and you want somebody who's I want something that yes, because I don't know everything and I definitely don't know everything in
the athletic apparel space. So it's been a this.
Is recorded, right, I'm gonna play that. We're gonna play that back.
You can do that, you can you can loop it, yeah, exactly. Well the same thing for you. I mean, Derek, when you get involved in something, how you know? We asked about what made this interesting, but in general, how involved do you want to be? I mean how much do you have to love the brand that you hook up with?
You have to be involved? I mean, otherwise you're just given your money and you're hoping someone else runs with it and makes you more. But when you're passionate about something, when you put in the time, you put in the effort. I think the best thing to say about us is we disagree probably more than we agree, and I think that's a good thing. I mean, you don't want people that always think the same as you, Otherwise you're never going to make improvements. You're never going to make progress.
Is it hard to say no to?
Derek? Though?
We just talked with the leadership we are author of a leadership book, talked about CEOs who once they get to the top, they surround themselves with people who are not say who don't say no.
Listen, I rolled the dice right from the beginning, and we went after each other a little bit. But like you said, it, uh, it's the best way to go about it. Like you want to leave at the end of the day and have people go against your views, because if they're agreeing with you, you're not going to
always do the right thing. So I thought that was a great I wondered if he was one to because sorry, if he was going to want to continue a relationship a few times, but it really came together and now now we're on the same page and things are going really well for us.
Well, I do wonder when does it get a little tricky, Like any partnership, whether it's a marriage, whether it's working relationships, whether it's business relationships, there's always tough times. What are some of those you're looking at me?
Yeah, I was about to say, just keep going. You want to you answer that question?
No, But I really do feel like a little bit of debate or a little bit of arguing, like gets you to a better place.
I think it does. You have to have a difference of opinion, like I said, I do like you tim Otherwise, like I said, you're not going to make any any progress moving forward. And we probably we disagree more than we agree, but we do it respectfully. And you know, there are some things that I know he's an expert. It's impossible to be an expert everything, right. It surrounds your people that are much more intelligent in different fields.
And you know, Chris obviously has a lot of experience in the retail space, especially, I have experience when it comes to athletic brands. So it's okay for us to disagree.
So Chris, let's go there because this is a really crowded space. You mentioned Nike, but I mean if you think about up starts like Viory Rohan, then there are the big players like Nike, Adidas and the like. How do you carve out a place for you specifically?
So my it's funny. Just like with on Tucket, I really needed this product and you might ask why. You know, there's plenty of athletic brands and athlesire brands. For me, the athletic brands that existed, the quality wasn't there, the consistency of fit wasn't there. They were designed for performance, but they didn't have that modern fit. The athleisure brands have an incredible fit, very high quality fabrics, but not
designed with performance first in mind. So I wanted a really high end athletic brand that had a great fit but also was meant to work out and would withstand being washed, not pilling. Something that all athletes, not just professional athletes, could use all the time. And it's not inexpensive, so you want it to last for a long time. And I think that that's where we are differentiate from
these other brands. We're not athleisure, we're not athletic. We're kind of a blend of both, if that makes sense.
I've got yoga pants on that are pilling a little bit, so I totally get you. What's the kind of what's the growth trajectory? Tell me what we can tell we're Bloomberg. We love numbers, you know that. What's the growth on this?
Well, we need you to go buy some pants.
We just said, so get right on it to help us out.
But I think for us, I'll let Chris follow up on it. I think what we want to show as a brand, this is only our second year. We want to show progress. You know sometimes when you when when you're building a company, a startup company, you want success right away to understand you're you're a startup company for I think they say ten years. I mean it's a long long time. So we want to show some steady progression. I'll let Chris get in a number.
Yeah, ten years before you really feel like it's there.
No ends on how much you buy, okay, No, I mean.
So much competition. You want to just stay relevant. You want to make a great product. That's the first thing. You got to make a great product. You need your repeats to be there, which they are for us. The other thing that's really exciting with us is not just you have the e comm then eventually stores, which is what I did with on Tucket. We have a great wholesale business we're building at Greatness Wins. We have a golf business. We'll be in eighty clubs. We were in
eighty clubs this spring. We have a bookstore business. Derek just wore a Michigan sweatshirt on his Honorey Captain in Michigan this weekend. We have a new dance relationship with Misty Copeland, who's our women this.
Same foundary women who do a little bit of shopping.
So we have something that will be announcing soon. That's exciting. So I'm very happy with th earlier are. People love the product, they love the quality, and we're just getting going, but very excited for the future.
All Right, We're going to just shift a little bit because I am curious, Derek, are you looking for any other investments, you know, in sports beyond baseball or maybe an MLB team or anything.
No, I've been down that path. No, take a break from that. I spend a lot of time with my four kids who are seven and under. So it's a full time job, especially when you're talking about Major League Baseball ownership. So at this particular point, I think I have my hands full.
So no other Yeah.
Well, when you say take a break, are you ruling it out for the future or do you want to get back?
And I learned a long time ago never say never. Yeah, because you never know. I as just said it three times in a row. But you don't know where the future is going to lead you. But at this particular point now.
I do also wonder the two of you, like when you think about either ath leisure or athletic appareled you know, companies that you look at that you admire or leaders you admire. Let me ask you, Chris first, like, is there somebody that you look at and say that's who I kind of get some cues from.
Or I mean we always talk about Nike and the Jordan brand. Those are the greatest, you know, probably the greatest brand maybe ever, so well, you know you want to be them, but if you're half half of what they become, you're very successful. And I think the ath
leisure brands are great too. I mean I won't name them because you know, but I think there's a lot of great brands these days, so we're just trying to differentiate, give a reason, you know, why you might need our product versus those products, and hopefully it works.
Leader you look at your smiling.
No, there's a lot, you know, it's one that comes to mind, he said, Jordan Brand. You know, MJ's been like a big brother than me. And I think, you know, I have young kids now, and you want them to choose their career path and find someone that they can look up to. You want them to see someone who's been successful. And you know, you talk about Michael and what he was able to accomplish on the basketball court, but I think you look at athletes post playing career.
He's up there at the top what he's been able to accomplish from a business standpoint. So he's someone that I look to and go to for advice.
All Right, you're going to go there, you go world. Seriously, I know I have to do this. I have to do this, all right, So you're going.
To be in the booth, right I am, Yes? Yeah?
Who do you can you think about who might be there?
I don't know, it depends, you know. I'm not trying to skirt the question. I'm really not, But a lot of it is matchups. We'll know in a couple of weeks, because you know, some teams I know during my careers to play Anaheim Angels all the time. We just couldn't beat them, and you know, finally we broke through and we were able to win in two thousand and nine. But it all comes down to matchups. So there's some good teams out there.
Chris, you talk baseball, and I'm curious what you might think for the World Series.
This knows nothing about basic.
You know baseball. I mean, I don't did a deal with I don't bother Derek with it, but I'm a Yankees fan. We'll see it's they don't seem to be able to perform in the playoffs for the last what is it fifteen years now.
We'll discuss it on.
Hey, listen, guys, got about forty seconds left here really quickly. In I don't know, a year from now, what's the conversation around your company.
I think we'll start to look at stores. I mean, I love stores. Not many people do in retail. We have niney of them on Tucket and we're opening more. I think it's really important for the male shoppers. So I think we'll at that and we'll look at continued growth in these different areas that we discuss, bookstores, golf, e commerce. So it's very exciting.
Same thing for you, Derek in terms of greatness, wins and a year from now, what are we going to be talking about.
Oh, I think it's all awareness. You want people to be aware. You want to walk around the streets and see people wearing it. And I'm very confident in the fact that someone buys our product and they wear it, they'll be happy with it and they return.
As a customer and no pilling. You promise, Well, you got to tell me. I got Derek, Derek Jeter, of course, Chris Ricobono, you guys got me. FLLL mixed