RICHMOND, Va. Devant Sport Towels is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades as the north star of quality in the custom sport towel category. What started as a way to keep a towel mill busy in the off season is today the #1 custom sport towel brand in the world, producing more than one million towels a year for the game’s most prestigious tournaments, elite clubs, luxury resorts and global corporations.
The story begins on a tennis court in 1976. Jim and Mary Ann Sheppard were talking with the owner of a large contract towel mill about a problem he could not solve. Country clubs nearby kept asking for short-run towel orders, and his mill was not built to fill them. Mary Ann volunteered to take the business on, and Devant was born.
The name came from the Sheppard family coat of arms. The motto translates to: “First and foremost, you can.”, and that phrase set the standard which Devant still operates under today.
“Devant started by taking the orders no one else would touch, a few dozen towels for a club down the road, and doing them better than anyone thought was possible,” said Craig Ramsbottom, President of Dynamic Brands, Devant’s parent company. “Fifty years later that order still gets the same attention it always did. What has changed is what sits next to it on the schedule. The same team and the same line now produce for the biggest championships and the most recognized clubs in the nation. A few dozen towels or thousands, the standard does not change.”
Five decades in, Devant towels appear wherever the game is played at its highest level. Strategic partnerships with golf’s major championships and leading retailers across golf and tennis put Devant products in the hands of players, members and fans around the world every season. The brand’s decoration capabilities have grown alongside that reach, spanning hi-definition sublimation, eco-friendly image dye, embroidery and direct-to-film printing, all still done in-house at the Devant facility in South Carolina.
“For 50 years Devant has been the brand clubs, tournaments, retailers and corporations trust to get their custom towels right,” said Leighton Klevana, CEO of Dynamic Brands. “Quality, value, service and innovation were the four principles the Sheppard family started with in 1976. They are still ours, and they are exactly why we are excited about the next 50 years.”
For more information about Devant Sport Towels and its 50-year history, visit: https://bagboy.com/pages/devant-sport-towels-celebrates-50-years
About Devant Sport Towels
Founded in 1976 by the Sheppard family, Devant Sport Towels is the #1 custom sport towel supplier, designing and decorating custom towels and accessories for the world’s most renowned golf clubs, tournaments, resorts and corporations. Devant produces more than one million sport towels annually and offers hi-definition sublimation, eco-friendly image dye, embroidery and direct-to-film printing, backed by low minimums, quick turnarounds and the quality, value, service and innovation the brand was founded on. For more information, please visit www.bagboy.com. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DevantSportTowels and on Instagram @devantsporttowels.
About Dynamic Brands
Founded in 2004, Dynamic Brands is the parent company for a portfolio of premium brand name companies committed to the development of innovative, quality products and outstanding customer service in the sporting goods industry. Golf and recreational products are offered through Bag Boy®, Burton®, Datrek® Golf, Devant Sport Towels®, Haas-Jordan™, IGOTCHA®, SEARCH ‘N RESCUE® and FLAGPOLE-TO-GO® brands, and include walking carts, golf bags, travel covers, umbrellas, custom sport towels, bag tags, golf ball retrievers, flags and accessories. Dynamic Brands’ products are marketed in 87 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit www.dynamicbrands.com.
Media Contact
Addie Graves, Marketing Director
Dynamic Brands
2701 Emerywood Pkwy., Suite 101
Richmond, VA 23294
Office: (804) 538-15654
agraves@dynamicbrands.com
