Pond Hockey Apparel
It was back in November when I was the lucky winner of a pretty nice looking shirt via ‘Movember’ promotion and the fine folks at Broers Jansen in the Sault’s downtown. I am one of the first people to try to support local philanthropic initiatives. In this case, it was for every purchase of Broers Jansen mulled wine, (you really had to twist my arm for this one), you received an entry into a draw for a shirt and they would donate some money to the ‘Movember’ campaign. When I received the shirt — which was super soft and comfy by the way — I noticed the words Pond Hockey Apparel on the sleeve.
Seeing the words Pond Hockey Apparel piqued my interest and I wondered if it was a local company.
I did some digging and sure enough, Pond Hockey Apparel is indeed a local company.
I took a chance and sent a message to Pond Hockey Apparel, explaining how I wasn’t that aware of the company and perhaps other people weren’t either. I suggested that maybe some advertising on Sault Business Matters might help to change that and to my pleasant surprise, it ended up in an ad sale.
At any rate, with the advertisement now on this site, I recently conducted an interview with affable entrepreneur Justin Marandola, owner of the Pond Hockey Apparel Co. and a recent new dad for the second time. (I imagine his second child, a big baby boy, will also be sporting some Pond Hockey Apparel in the near future!
Justin tells Sault Business Matters that the concept for the company and direction of the style of the apparel comes from him mainly but a designer that he works with has helped to capture the look he wanted and brought the visual appeal to life.
Packaging and design are mainly his vision, however Justin does get a lot of help from his sister who assists with the final touches and he was quick to add that his wife has been so supportive and looks after their very eye-catching and visually appealing social media posts which is also what caught my eye.
She so perfectly has managed to capture Justin’s vision of what the line is meant to represent with the images she shares via Instagram and Facebook and he couldn’t give enough kudos for all she is doing on their social. You instantly know what the brand is all about when you see the images selected and that is definitely a credit to his wife’s work on the social media side.
The line represents an almost nostalgic look at a favourite Canadian pastime, pond hockey, and the simple joy it brings to so many people across the world. Even the main logo is brilliant, a silhouette of a man on a pond evident from the trees used in the logo celebrating a goal, complete with the iconic toque on his head. It doesn’t get more Canadian than that! It calls to mind, Canadian heritage and Justin and the designer he worked with perfectly brought this vision to life.
Clearly, Justin has a love of hockey but especially pond hockey and he, like many youngsters in the Sault, grew up playing the game often on outdoor rinks — and he credits house league hockey and those hours playing on outdoor rinks for forming lifelong friends. It was and continues to be a big part of his life.
Hockey for many people forms the basis for lifelong friendships and in a way, it is partly the reason he decided to create a line of clothing and apparel that would honour this important pastime. In 2019, Justin decided to pursue this passion and create a line that would appeal to hockey enthusiasts and looking at the line, he has done so in a way that is both stylish and comfortable.
If looking for a way to describe the line, the website does a great job stating “channeling a game that makes a nation, our apparel is tied to our collective sense of what it means to be Canadian, a symbol of Canada, a national sport and a way of life. Dreams are made outdoors.”
The line currently carries clothing in men’s, women’s, youth, hats and toques, bottoms, jackets, and yes, they even have a branded mask available.
An online store makes it easy to order your favourite designs. Custom orders are also possible as evidenced by the shirts they made for Broers Jansen.
In addition to being employed full time by Algoma Steel, the hard working Marendola is also very hands on with his company and does the screen pressing himself. He tells Sault Business Matters that he has been exploring try to source the apparel locally and will continue to do so. He is currently getting some of his products from a local downtown supplier, others from southern Ontario and their very popular hoodie is sourced from a Canadian company.
And as procurement opportunities expand locally, Justin is more than willing to explore local options for sourcing the apparel. Currently, online shopping via their website is the method to purchase their apparel and they can ship locally, across Canada, the U.S. and are working on getting international distribution too. He told me that they ship a lot to the U.S. currently naming Wisconsin, South Carolina and even California as some of the places they ship a lot of merchandise to. Internationally, he would see places like Finland, Russia as being a great market for them.
The signature skate lace hoodie is very, very popular and other popular items include the golden goal long sleeve tee and the women’s pond hoodie. They are also aiming to have items available at a local sporting good store as well once things return to more “normal” operations.
One of the nice things about the Pond Hockey Apparel site are that the photos of the items show people actually wearing the items giving you a better sense of what they look like on “real” people. In fact, Justin confirmed that he is the model in the men’s clothing section quite often, again being very hands on and recognizing people appreciate seeing the face of the business but also because if offers a genuine look at what a shirt might look like on a person.
The site also has a ‘Must Go’ section, which is kind of a virtual sale rack with items that are being discontinued or they were an exclusive time limited option so be sure to check it out soon as things are moving quickly.
Justin was able to secure some great brand ambassadors with local connections, namely Mike Amadio of the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings, Nick Porco of the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League who, due to the lock down, is on the roster of the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League, James Borrelli, the trainer for the Calgary Flames, and Skylar Ruschpler, who plays for the under 13 Soo Jr. Greyhounds and is a 12 year old girl who, according to her Instagram page, aspires to be make it to the 2030 Olympics one day. Go Skylar!
As far as future plans, without revealing too much, I can tell you that Justin is working on a flagship product that will really set Pond Hockey Apparel apart and put the company on the map for its ingenuity. (Sorry I can’t tell you what it is just yet so you will have to follow their journey).
To see the incredible line for yourself, visit https://pondhockeyapparel.com/ and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.