Worlds Best Dog Bandana by Woof Threads

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Dec. 7, 2015 - PRLog -- A Greenville-based company of “whimsical, goofy” dog bandannas is run — at least in name — by a dog named Brahj.

Working under the 3-year-old Boston terrier’s iron paw are Zach Capps and Brahj’s owner Derek Riker, recent graduates of Clemson University’s master’s of business administration in entrepreneurship program. In May, they started working on the company, Woof Threads, full-time. Woof Threads is a line of stylish digitally printed dog bandannas manufactured by Greenville-based Carolina Manufacturing.

The company grew out of a project Capps and Riker worked on while students in the MBAe program. When researching the pet supplies market, they found it was a “really cool space” with growth potential as pets increasingly become part of the family, Capps said.

“People are looking for more premium, American-made products for their dogs,” Capps said. “You look around, and you can see that people are treating their dogs more like a human.”

Part of that human treatment has increasingly become dressing dogs in sweaters, dresses and even seasonally appropriate costumes. Woof Threads bandannas allow owners to dress their dogs in a more traditional garment, Capps said.

“Our real message is, ‘Hey, don’t dress your dog up like an idiot. Put them in something they can be proud of,’ ” he said.

The bandannas come in bright patterns and with unique pictures and phrases. You can outfit your dog in a bandanna supporting Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump, depicting the Rocky or Blue Ridge Mountains, or a sporting a Christmas sweater pattern.

“We feel like, hopefully, there’s designs for everyone on the site,” Capps said.

The use of digital printing allows Capps and Riker to put almost anything on a bandanna. They will soon release Clemson and Furman University-branded items, including “jersey-type” styles, Capps said.

The pair won startup funds and space in a downtown incubator through a May pitch competition, and their sales officially launched three weeks ago. The products already are in stores from Greenville to San Francisco, Riker said.

Being located in Greenville was fortuitous for starting a bandanna business, as Carolina Manufacturing, the largest producer of bandannas in the U.S., has facilities on Augusta Road, giving the company “unlimited production possibility,” Capps said.


To check out the company and order products, please visit http://woofthreads.com/


Source: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/money/business/2015...