365 Incorporated
365 Incorporated is a Birmingham-based holding company for a handful of notable rugby and soccer news and retailing websites. It was founded with the flagship "RugbyRugby.com" site in 1998 by London-born Australian entrepreneur Bernard Frei. He moved to Birmingham to be where his wife lives and started the company out of a spare bedroom, learning to write HTML as he went. As the company grew, partnerships with Reebok and Adidas brought recognition. Adidas arranged for English soccer superstar Devid Beckham to endorse WorldSoccerShop in ads, which catapulted sales. Frei is expecting record revenues from the 2006 World Cup, especially if the US team performs well.
Entrepreneur magazine estimated the company's 2004 revenues at $6 million.
Company headquarters are at 3027 6th Avenue South. By 2005 warehouse and distribution demand exceeded the company's capacity. 365 decided to outsource those services, as well as telephone customer support and distribution of print mail-order catalogs, to Hillsborough, North Carolina's Sports Endeavors, Inc.
Divisions
- BigToe.com
- RugbyRugby.com (a partner with Planet-Rugby)
- RugbyTeamware.com
- Soccer365.com
- SoccerTeamware.com
- TiendaFutbolMundial.com
- WorldKeeperShop.com
- WorldLacrosseshop.com
- WorldRugbyShop.com
- WorldSoccerShop.com
References
- Hubbard, Russell (June 11, 2006) "On the Record: Bernard Frei, founder of WorldSoccerShop.com". Birmingham News
- Kooser, Amanda C., et al. (November 2004) "Young millionaires: class of 2004" Entrepreneur
- Ray, Tiffany (March 17, 2006) "Business is clicking." Birmingham Business Journal
- Diel, Stan (December 2, 2010) "On Facebook, Birmingham-based 365 Inc. is well liked." Birmingham News
External link
- 365 Incorporated website