K1 Sportswear, located at 1309 Avenue C, started with one sewing machine in a basement in 1987 and has grown to be the No. 1 hockey jersey manufacturer in the U.S.A. K1 Sportswear Inc. sells primarily business to business, places like hockey stores, sports equipment stores, college bookstores, teams, and franchise shops. In addition to hockey jerseys, K1 Sportswear makes performance hockey socks, Breezer shells (which go over the top of the padded hockey pants and offer teams an opportunity to do more customization at a lower cost) along with lacrosse uniforms.
Cloquet native Marty Ketola started K1 Sportwear, and Tony Fisher purchased the business in November 2016. Both Ketola and Fisher were exceptional athletes in school and have used that background in business - Ketola in manufacturing hockey apparel and Fisher in various positions with Target Corporation. In Fisher's first job at Target Corporation, he was responsible for the licensed apparel portion of the business. Over the next eight years, Fisher's career took on several different roles, but he returned to licensed apparel. Tony has owned the business for the last five years and is continuing to build upon what Marty created and operated on for nearly 30 years.
I've always been passionate about sports apparel. Tony Fisher - Owner, K1 Sportswear
K1 Sportswear business is based on a solid set of key values:
Act with integrity.
Demonstrate accountability.
Commit to the customer.
Win as a team.
Respect our team.
Have fun.
K1 Sportwear jerseys are worn by players at every level, from youth to high school, from juniors in college, professional players and Olympians. In addition, K1 Sportswear has made a significant investment into the newest technology, which has allowed them to expand into additional sports like lacrosse, baseball, and softball apparel for the latest designs and trends.
K1 Sportswear utilizes high-quality materials. They provide a traditional cut and sew-to-die sublimation, tackle twill, sublimated patches, and screen print. All products are custom designed and sewn in-house.
Recently, K1 Sportwear locally designed and produced the jerseys that were worn in the annual hockey game between the NYC Fire Department and NYC Police Department that benefits various charities supporting 9-11 heroes and their families. In 2021, being the 20th Anniversary of 9-11, the game aired on ESPN2 and was held at Madison Square Garden, and had a pre-game ceremony that honored all those lost in the attacks and all the members who have since died from 9-11 related illnesses. For each jersey worn, K-1 Sportswear staff uniquely, creatively, and respectfully had to place the names into each different jersey number (spatial dimensional changes for every jersey) for NYC Fire Fighters and NYC Police Officers.
To learn more about the history of K1 Sportswear and change in leadership, check out this great piece completed by the Pine Journal in 2016. https://www.pinejournal.com/news/k1-sportswear-changes-hands
K1 Sportswear, Inc. (800) 345-0028
1309 Avenue C
Cloquet, MN 555720