Philly sports-apparel firm Mitchell & Ness has a new owner, a new CEO, and new thoughts about its future
'We believe we are the stewards of nostalgia. The key is how do we keep nostalgia fresh?"
Iconic Philadelphia sports-clothing company Mitchell & Ness started out stringing tennis rackets in 1904, and today is known for its meticulous, down-to-the-stitching duplicates of sports jerseys and team wear favored by everyone from casual fans to rap stars. This year the company is celebrating its 120th anniversary at a time of change in the industry and at the company itself.
Two years ago, Mitchell & Ness was bought by New-York-based Fanatics, the global sports-merchandise dealer founded by Philadelphia’s Michael Rubin. It was part of an aggressive Fanatics’ expansion that included the $500 million purchase of Topps’ trading cards and collectibles, a signing with a popular Japanese baseball team, and a deal with Nike to make college apparel.
Last year, Mitchell & Ness got a new CEO, Eli Kumekpor, who previously ran Nike’s Jordan Brand men’s business. At a recent event at the company’s Philadelphia corporate office — an “Athlete Immersion Program,” where retired players got a crash course on the Fanatics business — Kumekpor told the group that the company is commencing a new campaign: 120 To Infinity. And as part of the anniversary celebration, it’s launching LA28, a premium collection of sportswear tied to the 2028 summer Olympic and Paralympic games in Los Angeles.
“We got to get back to reclaiming our own spot,” he said. “How do we become new? How do we become fresh?”
The Inquirer talked to Kumekpor about the company and its future. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You talked about the need to connect past and future. What is driving that?
We spend a lot of time thinking about what we mean as a brand. It’s literally in our logo: We are ‘The Nostalgia Company.’ But we started really thinking about what does nostalgia mean? It means different things to different people.
We’re focused on putting the consumer at the center of what we do. And if you put the consumer at the center, then the bulk of your consumer today is Gen Z, Gen Alpha, new generations of kids. If we want to take this brand to the future, we can’t keep doing things the old way. We have to think about how this consumer wants to be engaged.
Many people associate Mitchell & Ness with classic jerseys worn by great teams and great players. Is that going to be less of the company going forward?
No. Our history and our roots will always be in authentic sports apparel across every league. It’s super important to us to serve that consumer and to continue to bring that to life. Tying back to the last question, that means different things for different people. A diehard sports fan wants it because of what that athlete meant to them, maybe Bo or Kobe.
But the jerseys are going to continue to grow because there’s an 8-year-old and 9-year-old who’s like, ‘I buy it because I love the color, the way it matches my sneakers.’ He might not have that connection from a sports perspective to that player, but he has a connection to that jersey through a different lens.
How is the market for old-school jerseys?
It’s growing, but like everything, it experiences its cyclical waves and dips. Perennially it is going to be around. Anything around sports apparel, it’s going to continue to grow. It’s important for brands like Mitchell & Ness to continue to not just engage with the consumer but tell compelling stories. So people know, hey, there’s a reason I should buy that MJ jersey, that Barry Sanders, that Larry Bird. We believe we are responsible for keeping the legacy of nostalgia alive. We take that very seriously.
How do you decide what player or moment to commemorate in a jersey?
We’ve been overzealous. Sometimes we’ve told too many stories. How do you condense them? How do we story-tell that to the consumer? How does that show up on social, not the product, but that moment? Why was it compelling? If you’re releasing Shaq’s Orlando Jersey, why should that matter to a fan?
Deciding which jersey to produce is key, right? At about $300 per jersey, these products are expensive.
Absolutely. There’s also certain things we should say, not ‘no’ to, but what’s the right moment to bring it out? What’s the right anniversary? Sometimes we’ll make a call that we can’t do a jersey, because we cannot confidently say we can source the exact [material] — the mill might be out of commission, we might not be happy with the fabric. You’re bringing somebody’s legacy to life. That’s the difference between us and everybody else.
Is it the athlete or the team that determines which jersey gets made?
It’s both. There’s just some teams that have die-hard followings, regardless, because they are super-regional. Boston. The Celtics. Jalen. They’re in places where that team means something more to that community. Some of these storied programs, people will rock the team just to rock it.
What’s your confidence in the future of this business?
Nostalgia doesn’t die. Nostalgia doesn’t go away. In a hundred years, are people going to celebrate every athlete from today? No. But between now and the next 100, next millennia, there are going to be new stories. There are going to be new legends created and the old ones celebrated. We believe we are the stewards of nostalgia. The key is how do we keep nostalgia fresh? That’s what we’re focused on. What we do is special, and that’s why we think Mitchell & Ness is special to the consumer.