 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Textile |
| Founded | 1904 |
| Founder | Frank P. Mitchell Charles M. Ness |
| Headquarters | 235 S. 17th Street,, |
Key people | Eli Kumekpor(CEO) Glen Giovanucci(Vice President) |
| Products | Sportswear andapparel |
| Brands | M&N |
| Parent | Fanatics, Inc. |
| Website | mitchellandness.com |
Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co. is an Americansports-relatedclothing company located inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was established in 1904 as asports equipment manufacturer, remaining as the oldest sporting company in Philadelphia. After several years of makingbaseball andAmerican football uniforms, the company switched direction in 1983, when it decided to recreate vintage jerseys.[1][2][3]
Nowadays, Mitchell & Ness has license agreements with four of the major sports leagues of the United States (MLB,NBA,NFL, andMLS) to produce and commercialise vintage sports equipment andcasual wear.
Some of Mitchell & Ness products include team uniforms (jerseys andshorts) and other casual wear such ast-shirts,tracksuits,jackets,hoodies,hats,knit caps, and other accessories (pennants). The company also has its own brand, "M&N".[4]
In February 2022, Mitchell & Ness was acquired byFanatics, Inc., along with a group of investors includingLeBron James,Jay-Z, andKevin Hart.
Frank P. Mitchell, a formerAmateur Athletic Union tennis and wrestling champion, and Charles M. Ness, an avid golfer born inScotland, together founded "Mitchell & Ness Sporting Goods" in 1904.[5] Their original store made and strung hand-crafted tennisrackets and, using imported woods from Scotland, stolen from England, constructed custom-madegolf clubs. In time, they expanded their business, selling uniforms to local baseball and American football teams.[1] When thePhiladelphia Eagles entered the youngNational Football League (NFL) in 1933, Mitchell & Ness supplied the team jerseys and equipment. Mitchell & Ness would continue to outfit the Eagles through the1963 season.[6]
The first time that the Mitchell & Ness label appeared on a major league baseball uniform, thePhiladelphia Athletics, was in 1938. In the early 1940s, Mitchell & Ness began to supply Philadelphia's other major league baseball team, thePhillies. By the end of the decade, the Mitchell & Ness label was appearing on high school and college team uniforms throughout the Philadelphia area.
In the late 1970s, Mitchell & Ness had dropped the team business to concentrate on its retail operation. The store became a leading outlet for field hockey equipment and ski gear. Mitchell & Ness almost went bankrupt in 1983. Owner Peter Capolino told theDetroit Free Press, "By 1983 all the expansion I had done had gone to hell. I fired 100 people, closed two warehouses. I reduced the company to a little store at 13th andWalnut Streets (in Philadelphia). It was down to just me and my wife."[7]
In 1983, a customer walked into the store and asked if Mitchell & Ness could repair his 1960Pittsburgh Pirates game-worn vest, and his 1949St. Louis Browns game-worn shirt. They were both made of wool flannel as all baseball uniforms had been during that era. Mitchell & Ness found that it could do it, and with the realization that Mitchell & Ness was capable of this task, an idea was born: Reproduce historically accurate wool-flannel baseball uniforms.[8] Mitchell & Ness recruited history buffs and sports gurus most notably Capolino's friend Bob Downes. They dug through old newspapers, periodicals, books, programs, and old film footage. They consulted vintage uniform collectors throughout the country and visited the archives at theBaseball Hall of Fame inCooperstown, New York.[9]
Major League Baseball (MLB) teams had stopped wearing wool flannel jerseys by 1972 to wear double-knit polyester jerseys. In a dusty warehouse inNorth Philadelphia, Mitchell & Ness discovered rolls of old baseball flannel from 50 years earlier. They were still carefully wrapped, untouched, and in like-new condition ready to be cut and sewn.[9] The flannel was sewn. The lettering and patches were recreated and applied. The jerseys were completed, and they were offered for sale. The first shirts sold almost overnight. So did the second batch of a dozen or more. In time, Mitchell & Ness attracted customers from across the United States.Sports Illustrated wrote a flattering piece about Mitchell & Ness in June 1987.[2][8]The New York Times wrote about the company two years later.[6]
In 1999, Mitchell & Ness expanded into the history of theNational Basketball Association (NBA), when it introduced its Hardwood Classics collection of basketball jerseys. Football followed a year later with the Mitchell & Ness Throwback Collection. In 2002, theNational Hockey League (NHL) granted Mitchell & Ness rights to remake vintage hockey sweaters.
Mitchell & Ness now has on file every MLB uniform worn since the founding of the originalCincinnati Red Stockings in 1869.
In 2007,Adidas purchased Mitchell & Ness in order to get into the retro-apparel style market.[10] On May 29, 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that they had signed Mitchell & Ness as a naming-rights partner of its clothes store at the Phillies'Citizens Bank Park. The Mitchell & Ness Alley Store is inAshburn Alley beyond left-center field.[11]
On January 24, 2011, theReading Phillies, AA affiliate of the Phillies announced that they had signed Mitchell & Ness as a naming-rights partner of its apparel store at the R-Phils'FirstEnergy Stadium. On March 23, 2012, Jonathan Yuska was brought on as Head of Mitchell and Ness. In May 2016, Adidas sold Mitchell & Ness to "Juggernaut Capital Partners", aWashington, D.C.–basedprivate equity firm.[12]
Mitchell & Ness, expanded internationally launching in the United Kingdom andAustralia in 2012.[13] In April 2015, Mitchell & Ness grew its international sporting codes portfolio from NBA, NHL and NFL, to also includeNew Zealand and Australia’sNational Basketball League (NBL).[14][15] Mitchell & Ness produced headwear such as sports caps for the NBL during the 2015–2016 season.[15] In 2016-2017, Mitchell & Ness continued its partnership with the NBL to supply on-court and off-court clothing for the league as the official apparel partner of the competition.[14][16] For the 2016–2017 season, Mitchell & Ness provided new official on-court basketball jersey and short designs, which were made in Australia and featured structural improvements.[16]
After the 2016–2017 NBL season, the agreement between Mitchell & Ness Australia and the NBL was extended for another two years, lasting until the end of the 2019 season.[17][14] The NBL’s partnership with Mitchell & Ness then changed to the sporting company then providing the league with headwear designs and stopping production of NBL apparel. In 2022, the 10 teams which make upAustralia and New Zealand's NBL are still wearing headwear supplied by Mitchell & Ness. Several of the NBL teams the brand produces headwear for include the Adelaide 36ers, Brisbane Bullets and Melbourne United.[13]
Owner Peter Capolino reported toSports Illustrated that Mitchell & Ness had annual sales revenue of $1.5 million per-year in 1998.[18] Revenues rose to $2.2 million in 1999[19] and were $2.8 million in 2000.[20] Sales were more than $5 million in 2001 according to ESPN.com[19] while Capolino reported annual sales of $4.5 million in 2001 toUSA Today.[21] Sales rose to $23 million in 2002.[20]
Mitchell & Ness'sthrowback uniforms were created to reproduce classic to very modern team and player sports jerseys which are either no longer available or hard to find. Mitchell & Ness began producingbaseball (Cooperstown Collection) jerseys in 1988, although the company gained popularity in the internationalretailmarket ten years after with the introduction of the NBA "Hardwood Classics" line. The company later moved on to reproducing popular throwbacks of American football and NHL players.
USA Today reported that as of May 2002, the most popular NBA players for Mitchell & Ness wereMichael Jordan andJulius Erving, followed byMagic Johnson,Wilt Chamberlain,Jerry West, andLarry Bird.[22]
The company sponsored a Turn Back the Clock alumni game on November 21, 2003, between players from the1988 Temple Owls and1985 Villanova Wildcats at theLiacouras Center on the campus ofTemple University inNorth Philadelphia.[23]
Mitchell & Ness partnered with theBetsy Ross House to present an exhibition opening May 22, 2009, called "Play Ball! A History of Baseball in Philadelphia."[24]
