It’s 4 a.m. The stars are shining. In a little cabin near the woods, a man leans toward his sewing machine to turn out colourful uniforms for Canadian rowing teams and for players of Harry Potter’s favourite game.
Justin Nakatsuka, 42, is the owner of Row West, a one-man operation at his Shawnigan Lake home. His 600-square-foot workshop is the base for his manufacturing business.
The former rower rises early to sew uniforms for rowing crews close to home and as far afield as Nova Scotia. He’s also busy making uniforms for players of Quidditch, an increasingly popular sport at North American high schools and universities. Quidditch is a game played in the fantasy world of Harry Potter books and movies.
Nakatsuka took over a much smaller Row West company when he was in his twenties. During those years, he attended the University of Victoria and earned a degree in fine arts. He also studied pre-med sciences and spent a year in the theatre program, where he learned to sew by making costumes.
He also rowed for UVic, showing up six days a week for 5:30 a.m. practice on Elk Lake.
T-shirts were Nakatsuka’s first Row West venture, allowing him to tap into his interest in design.
As a rower, he wanted to see better-quality clothing than was on the market at that time. Poor stitching led to some suits splitting at the seams and just not lasting. “I just thought I could probably do it myself,” said Nakatsuka.
It’s tricky to work with stretchy fabric and craft a design that stands up to heavy use, but Nakatsuka figured out what worked.
In the summer of 1995, he purchased an industrial sewing machine and business grew as he sold products at regattas.
Nearly 20 years later, he occasionally spots rowers still wearing some of his early products.
Initially, he worked out of his rowing partner’s parents’ basement. He used a pool table, topped by a ping-pong table board with cutting mats on top.
One of the appealing features of the Shawnigan house was its workshop, Nakatsuka said. Since moving there eight and a half years ago, Row West’s line of products has expanded.
Dozens of local rowing teams wear Row West uniforms, said Nakatsuka, who is working now on uniforms for some of this region’s private schools. The company is strong in the Maritimes and in Ottawa and Alberta, he said.
Annual gross sales have grown from $35,000 to between $150,000 and $180,000, Nakatsuka said.
With uniforms taking up most of his time, he doesn’t get out to regattas much any more to sell more individual items. However, “I’ve got a book of ideas of things that I think would be great at regattas.”
As well as designing and sewing clothing, he also has a high-tech system to print colours and designs on white fabric.
He’s open to the idea of bringing a partner into the company to help develop and implement a strategy for future growth.
Nakatsuka, married to Krista, makes clothes for sons Eli, 10, and Kai, eight. Especially popular are his “crash pants” with extra padding on the knees.
Row West is a part of a healthy small business scene that has a big impact in the province. B.C.’s small businesses generated nearly 30 per cent of the province gross domestic product in 2011, said the Small Business Profile for B.C. published in 2012.
B.C. had 385,100 small businesses in 2011, representing 98 per cent of all businesses in the province. Among those businesses, 82 per cent had fewer than five employees.
> On the web: rowwest.com
