Brand History - Nutmeg Mills
The early days
Nutmeg Mills was founded by Martin and Richard Jacobson in the early 1980s. The two brothers brought new life to sports merchandising for all major US sports leagues through their large, bold fonts and illustrations. The T-shirts, sweatshirts and other pieces were a way for fans to support their team in everyday life off the field.
The brothers started working for their father's company and had opened retail outlets along the East coast until selling the business in the mid to late 1970s. With their proceeds, they invested in a women's and junior sports apparel business in Tampa, Florida. They bought out the owner shortly after and used the facility for their own vision which would be named after the nickname of their home state of Connecticut - the Nutmeg State.
Pioneers of Licensing
The Jacobson brothers proved their entrepreneurial skills early on. At the age of 15, Richard took his brother and some friends and they bought a $20 license to sell sports pennants outside of Yale University games in their hometown of New Haven, Connecticut.
Fast-forward to the 1980s, and the brothers again proved their prediction-abilities. Back then, apparel of College Sports was not as accessible as it is today, even though college spirit and pride was always a big thing in the US. Richard and Martin recognized this potential and approached the Collegiate Licensing Company and wrote a letter to the University of Florida about working together - UF agreed and the legacy of Nutmeg Mills was about to take off.
Nutmeg Mills experienced fast growth and schools like UF, Florida State, and Michigan all started to sell their apparel and gear. In their second year of operating, Nutmeg was the highest royalty payer to colleges in the country. After their initial success, they did not wait long to take it to the pro leagues.
From College Sports to the Big Leagues
In 1981, they got their first professional sports partner with the NBA and Nutmeg Mills was one of the earliest companies to partner with the league. As a smart move of promoting their pieces, they also provided official gear to the stat crew who sat court side at every NBA game. Shortly after, licensing deals with the MLB and the NHL followed and a few years after that, the NFL was also convinced by the brothers.
After years of success, the brothers saw the right moment to sell the company in January 1994 to VF Corporation, where it later was consolidated into another division of the company.
Sports pieces from Nutmeg Mills and other brands can be found in our shop here!