Quick-growing baseball attire model increasing in Farmingdale

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Baseball Way of life 101, a fast-growing sports activities attire and equipment enterprise based by a younger Lengthy Island entrepreneur, is increasing in Farmingdale. 

The corporate leased an 18,600-square-foot industrial constructing on 1.1 acres at 70 Carolyn Blvd., giving the model greater than three-times its present area. 

Baseball Way of life 101 is the brainchild of Josh Shapiro, who planted the seeds of the enterprise with an Instagram account when he was a 15-year-old scholar at Walt Whitman Excessive Faculty in Huntington Station. 

“I posted plenty of baseball content material, making an attempt to develop a group,” Shapiro advised LIBN. 

And develop it did, reaching greater than 250,000 followers some three years later. Shapiro quickly started promoting Baseball Way of life-branded t-shirts and hats via that Instagram account, racking up greater than $600,000 in gross sales in 2017. 

A former second baseman at Farmingdale State Faculty, Shapiro left college after two years to dedicate all of his time to the enterprise. Baseball Way of life 101 turned out to be a giant hit when it exhibited on the Faculty World Collection in Omaha, Neb. in 2018. 

“Individuals have been tremendous excited to see the model,” Shapiro mentioned. 

That 12 months, the younger entrepreneur partnered along with his energy and conditioning coach Invoice Rom, who had been mentoring Shapiro, and the corporate’s gross sales surpassed $1 million.

“He was 12 after I first met him,” mentioned Rom, who had constructed his personal health enterprise. “He would sit down with me a number of occasions every week and ask me a bunch of questions. I went to highschool for advertising and I knew how one can develop a enterprise.” 

In truth, Rom’s spouse Melissa was Shapiro’s first worker, operating its social media accounts amongst different issues. And the Roms did greater than mentor their younger affiliate, nourishing him as properly. 

“His dad and mom moved to North Carolina and he would come and have dinner with us nearly each evening,” mentioned Rom, the corporate’s chief technique officer.  

As we speak, the model, which gives a wide range of t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, shorts, hats and different equipment for youths, women and men, has greater than 1 million followers on social media and the corporate employs a employees of 20 folks. And lately, Baseball Way of life 101 added some wholesale prospects and scaled up its stock, which is why the enterprise wanted the brand new constructing to accommodate its fast progress, mentioned the now 26-year-old Shapiro. 

To say he’s hit it out of the park could be an understatement. 

“Final 12 months we did somewhat over $5 million and we’re on observe to do at the least $20 million this 12 months,” Shapiro mentioned. 

Stu Fagen of Sabre Actual Property represented the tenant, Baseball Way of life 101, whereas Mario Asaro of Trade One Realty represented the owner, Carolyn Holdings LLC, within the Farmingdale lease transaction.