Three Years After Launching, Stria Sport Lands Scheels as Its First Retail Partner
Three years ago, while working a full-time job as a real estate developer in Chicago, Eric Porter launched Stria Sport, an athletic footwear brand with a focus on performance basketball. Today, with momentum behind the brand, Porter has made Stria Sport his sole focus.
“I went full time [with Stria Sport] in the beginning of 2023,” Porter told FN. “In the beginning, the brand was kind of a side thing to see if people even liked the shoes. We made them based on our experience from our [college basketball] careers, and we ended up selling a lot of shoes. After a couple years of testing the market, seeing if there was room for the shoes, people liked them so I made the jump.”
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He continued, “I think it’s every sneakerhead’s dream to have your own shoe and brand. I’m just trying to live out that dream now and see what we can do, build upon it with more products and see where we can take this thing.”
Porter said there are six people on the Stria Sport staff, which includes himself and several part-timers, and the brand is operating from an office and warehouse just outside of Chicago.
Since the brand’s debut, Porter said Stria Sport’s revenue has increased by double digits every year.
Stria Sport has been entirely direct-to-consumer since its inception, but in October the brand landed its first-ever retail partner in sporting goods chain Scheels. Porter said Stria Sport is in a “handful” of Scheels stores at the moment and the brand is sold on the retailer’s website, Scheels.com.
“They’re a family-owned, employee-owned company, and when you walk in their stores you’re wowed,” Porter said. “They have literally everything and their employees really help when a customer walks in. They really know the product.”
He continued, “For us, it was a great fit and it was great to enter retail with them. They understand where we’re at, and we’re looking to build long-term with them.”
The shoe that is being sold in Scheels is Stria Sport’s first-ever look, the 107 Series. The model was designed for the basketball court, however Porter said consumers are now using them for other sports.
“It was developed for the high pressure of basketball cuts, but people are wearing them for volleyball, people are wearing them for pickleball because they like the comfort, the light weight, the ankle support for side-to-side movements. We’re calling it more of a court shoe now because it works across different sports,” Porter explained.
Aside from making its debut in Scheels, Stria Sport has also added a new silhouette to its offering. The brand’s second shoe, the Easy Stride, is a comfort-focused and lightweight everyday shoe.
“Our first shoe, the 107 Series, was for on court purposes, for performance, whether basketball, pickleball, volleyball. This next shoe is geared more toward off the court. It’s not necessarily for the high performance athlete,” Porter said. “This other shoe is to get the everyday consumer who is going to the grocery store or walking the dog. This gets other people involved with our brand, which is the goal.”
The Stria Sport Easy Stride is available now in men’s and women’s sizing for $110 via Striasport.com.
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