Why Addix Sportswear moved its operation from Michigan to Jacksonville

Why Addix Sportswear moved its operation from Michigan to Jacksonville (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — When Addix Sportswear of Lowell, Michigan, acquired Jacksonville-based screen printing company Great Atlantic Outfitters in May, there was originally no plan to consolidate operations.

But then Addix CEO Steve Dean realized he was faced with having to move the operations of both companies at the same time — at Addix, because the landlord wanted the building, and at Great Atlantic because it was outgrowing its previous facility.

The prospect of moving both operations into one larger building was appealing, Dean said, especially since the companies could consolidate certain operations to exploit economies of scale, even though they operate through separate manufacturing processes. It also meant having operations close to home for Dean — for whom home is Jacksonville — even though much of Addix’s management team continues to work from Michigan.

Dean also emphasized the benefits of running a business in Jacksonville, saying it’s much easier to recruit skilled employees for the companies’ specialized positions in a big city in Florida than it is in Lowell, Michigan, population 4,136, where Addix was founded in 2006.

“There’s a lot to it … and being right downtown in a bigger city, and being able to tap into the resources of a Jacksonville, being offered incentives for the business, has made this a target-rich environment,” Dean said. 

Addix’s makeover

Before Dean got involved with Addix in June 2018, he worked as an executive in multinational supply chain and logistics companies for about a quarter of a century.

Initially, Dean came onboard Addix as a consultant. Within a year — in March 2019 — he was the principal owner.

Since then, Dean has implemented lots of changes to Addix, the biggest probably being the change in headquarters and consolidation with Great Atlantic Outfitters, a company Dean said he learned about a few years prior, while visiting screen printers across the country. The plan, Dean said, was to partner with a screen printing company to better serve their shared clientele — while Addix provides uniforms to sports teams, screen printing companies can make custom t-shirts and caps for fans and families.

After visiting what Dean said were probably 40 to 45 screen printing shops around the country, his wife mentioned that she’d passed by Great Atlantic several times, and that Dean should check it out. He did, and was impressed with their workforce, the size of their operation and his sense that it was operating quite effectively, and the positive customer reviews of the company’s products on Google. 

Along with moving Addix’s headquarters to a 25,800-square-foot property at 1708 Marshall St. and consolidating its operations with Great Atlantic, Dean has made other significant changes within the company, including where it sources its production material. When Dean initially came onboard, he said, 75% of it was shipped from overseas.

With supply chains battered by the pandemic and delaying shipments for months, as well as the tariffs former President Donald Trump levied on Chinese exports, Dean decided to start sourcing entirely from within the United States, which he said Addix has been doing for over a year now.

“The cost is a little bit more, but the cost is going up on the Asian supply chain anyway, and it’s hard to tell a [sports] team we haven’t made the uniforms because we haven’t received the fabric yet,” he said. “And it’s nice to be able to say ‘USA Made.’ It resonates with customers that we don’t outsource anything.”

Addix is also investing in new technology, he said, as well as talent, having hired roughly 20 new employees so far for sewing positions and to operate the laser cutter and sublimation printer, and planning to hire at least 20 more by the end of the year.