By Heather Black
Quinn Redeker wanted to make his mark and he did so with a sledgehammer.
The Sicamous native, who now lives in Calgary, has teamed up with four childhood friends – Ryan Wilson, Travis Tucker, Jay Knuff and Derek Rouselle – for their burgeoning company, Sledgehammers Apparel. The business started in 2012 as a one-off when Redeker, who’s always been into art, drew their sledgehammers logo and thought it would be cool to have it embroidered onto 12 hats that he then sold to friends at work. The popularity of those – having sold out in one day – prompted him to get another 12 and, a couple days later, he doubled that to 24.
“Then it just kind of went from there to 36 to 48, and that’s when my friend Ryan, we started talking about it, and he said well maybe this is something you could do a little bit more, we can go further into it,” Redeker explained. “And that’s basically how it started.”
Just last year Rouselle came onboard, as he saw the further potential that would come from actively pursuing a market and promoting the brand, with Tucker and Knuff getting involved soon after that. The group’s different connections on social media began to create a bigger and bigger following. With that momentum, they started to get retail space – including locally with Sic Riderz AFD Fuels, Red’s Rentals and Moe’s Rentals – and were constantly having to order more product as demand grew. They also branched out from just hats and shirts to include hoodies, tank tops, sunglasses and other accessories.
From there, they started giving back to their fans and supporters through sponsorship of skateboarders and motocross riders. They attended Peachfest this year and did a show while also running their vendor booth.
“Peachfest was amazing; I was blown away with how well it went – -it was our first event,” Redeker said, adding that they’re looking to do more events next year in Sicamous, Vernon and maybe even at Armstrong’s Interior Provincial Exhibition. They plan to return to Peachfest where they created a following.
“After that (show) we kind of felt a little bit like rock stars, we’re walking down the beach in Penticton after and everyone’s screaming ‘Sledgehammers.’”
While this is still a part-time endeavour, they hope to see it become a full-time, family business.
“The end goal for us is we want this to be a full-time job, we want all of our families to be a part of it, our kids to grow up in it and, hopefully, if it could ever happen, them to take over eventually,” Redeker said of their vision for their 11 kids combined.
“It’s a big squad.”
When that goal of committing to the company full-time comes about, they’ve all agreed that they would need to live closer, which would see Wilson and Redeker happily moving back to B.C., with Tucker already living in Kelowna, Rouselle in Penticton and Knuff holding down the fort in Sicamous.
Despite the growing reputation and fame of Sledgehammers, the guys – all in their mid-30s – are still hometown boys at heart, and truly appreciate the backing and encouragement from locals, with their logo being worn around town and decals adorning vehicles.
“Just coming back home and seeing the support is the best part about it,” Redeker said.
