In 1983 I started working for a company from Winnipeg that supplied schools, teams and businesses with their clothing needs. I was making great sales, but the Company was having a hard time delivering the product. There had to be a better way to service these customers. I contacted a few suppliers and asked that if going on my own could I still have access to their products
In February 1984 Thousand Islands Sportswear was born. Our main purpose was to service our customers to the best of our ability and have a no questions asked policy if anything went wrong.
We started out in a 400 square foot store front in 1984 and moved to 1,500 square feet in 1987. In 1988 we moved to our present location where we purchased the building. We do all our own screen printing and embroidery in house. We also have an engraving machine for trophy plates and plaques and well as a vinyl cutter to do names on various items.
We are now on our 4th computerized embroidery machine, our 4th heat press and our 3rd screen printing press. As we get busier we keep upgrading our machinery with newer and better models.
Our customer base has now extended down 3 generations as we are starting to see the grand children of some of our original customers.
The credit for our success also has to go the staff that have learned how to handle the on going pressures of meeting deadlines and learning the new machinery. Elaine has looked after the embroidery for the past 26 years and she is one of the best in Eastern Ontario.
