SCHAMPA + DIRT SKINS
20 years ago, Nora and I were at the end of our rope, we had nothing. After a failed business attempt in Mexico we were in the streets and besides each other and our families we had nothing. I had always dreamed of building a top of the line clothing company and I never lost site of my dream. I decided that Nora and I would start making dickies, a product I made for myself while training for mountain bike racing and road bike racing in Flagstaff, Arizona. We first introduced our product at the original Arizona Bike Week, result, we sold all 24 dickies off of our make shift table (a piece of wood propped up by 4 milk crates). The idea caught on and soon we were working day and night, a few weeks later we did our first big show, the Laughlin River Run in Nevada.With very little inventory and no idea of what we were getting into, Nora & I decided to take a few sewing machines, and a 4X8 piece of plywood. In our room at the Edgewater Resort and Casino we set up our own little sewing shop, we put the wood on the bed and used it as a cutting table, and arranged the room to accommodate our machines. Good thing we did, because on the first day we sold out of the majority of our inventory. By Friday night we were pretty excited that we had been received so well, but we had our first challenge that resulted in the beginning of what makes us who we are today
a request. A gentleman requested a dickie with a longer front and we said we could make it. He stated that he wanted it by the morning, Saturday, for his ride home. We said no problem, be at our booth when it opens at 10am and we will have it ready for you. He said, how can that be possible, you do not offer it, and you don’t have one here, we said just be here in the morning.
Morning came fast as Nora and I were up all night sewing for the next day sales, and putting together our first special request. At 10am we went to our booth and there was our customer, we handed him his product and his jaw dropped, as he could not believe that we handmade it inside our room at the Casino. Since then we have developed what our customers want and nothing less.
20 years later we’ve watched our little grass roots business grow into an American success. Nora and I have seen our fair share of good times and bad times. A lot of tears of pain and joy have been shed over this enterprise that has encompassed our every breath since our first sale. We love what we do and we could not have done it without you our customer, and all of our incredible employees, past
and present.
20 years have ticked away like a second as Nora and I still cannot believe what we have created. We often reminisce about the long days and nights we spent developing this line and hold many of our traditional products very close and dear to our hearts as we remember the exact moment when we created them. We look forward to continuing our creative drive and passion for making the world’s
best technical wear, and keeping the worlds best customers comfortable on all of their outings. See you at the rallies, races, expos, desert, track, on the trails, in the snow, and always with the rubber side down
NEVER STOP RIDING. Andy & Nora Myers
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