Athlete turns sportswear hobby into business

by Kelly Mead

Hats with flip-up bills that showed off a logo looked cool in 1994. Or at least that's what businessman and avid volleyball player Bill Sigler thought. So, he combed South Bay stores for one. Being a self-starter, when Sigler couldn't find the hat, he made one himself.

That summer Sigler and a few friends made 48 flip bill-hats and 48 regular hats. After they sold a few to friends, they came up with a catchy name for the hats, Smack Sportswear, and held a small volleyball tournament, dubbed Smackfest, to sell what was left of them. When the hats sold out, the three men decided to keep making the Smack brand. Within a month they had added Smack T-shirts.

For the first couple of years Sigler said the company was more of an odd "fun hobby." But things changed when Smack got a sponsorship from a professional volleyball rookie named Jose Loiola in 1995. When Sigler saw the Smack name via national television from a volleyball tournament called The Evian Indoor Tour at Madison Square Garden, he started to see its potential. Unfortunately his partners wanted to keep the company local. So, in 1996 he raised $100,000 and bought his friends out of the business. The clothing line, which started in Sigler's garage, has turned into a distinct brand name for volleyball fans. "All the employees have been either professional volleyball players or high-level amateurs," Sigler said. In the past it has only been sold in specialty retail stores. It lived through word of mouth, athlete sponsorship and scarce advertising in specialty magazines. This year the company had a makeover. It changed its name from Smack Sportswear Inc. to Coastal Sol Enterprises. Sigler said Smack's past business model, relying on sales at retail stores, wasn't bringing in high revenues. "We made some mistakes in the past," said Sigler, referring to Smack's past emphasis on store sales. The company is still keeping its specialty image, but it plans to broaden its reach. Sigler consolidated the Manhattan Beach offices from four rooms to two and rethought how he runs the business.

The company has started a Web site and expanded into team apparel, and is considering doing in-house screen printing and embroidery. It also is trying to get its sportswear sold in larger stores such as Nordstrom Inc. and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. The team apparel, introduced last fall, has helped change the face of the business. "The team apparel is just going crazy right now," Sigler said. Sigler uses volleyball players as sales representatives for the team apparel, because they already know the coaches who may buy the products. Sigler hopes the Web site, www.smacksportswear.com, which went up last winter, will boost business. So far the site brings in only 15 to 25 orders a week. Sigler plans to aggressively promote it this year by paying to have it appear near the top of search engine lists. Eventually he hopes to make the Web site an insider's guide for volleyball fans. In addition to selling Smack clothing, it will feature news on volleyball, chat rooms with players and tournament updates. Sigler also is talking to a local surfboard shaper about making a Smack line.

Sigler looks back on his journey into the retail business with awe. "I would never have imagined myself in the apparel business," he said. "Sales and marketing was my style." In 1996, when he decided to take on Smack full time, he was part owner in Nova Ortho-Med Inc., a business that sold durable medical equipment such as canes and walkers. Sigler had to choose between a stable path and the risky clothing business. Sigler preferred a career that interested him, rather than one that is financially stable. So he chose Smack. Five years later, he says he's glad he did not fear the risk. "I believe you regret the things you didn't do more than the things you do," he said.

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