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Howies Hockey was started in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2002, Howies is a homegrown, family run company that was built to solve a simple problem: tape that wouldn’t hold up. While playing ACHA hockey at Calvin University, Howie Sieplinga set out to make something better, something that would last!
The first rolls of Howies Hockey Tape were sold to teammates and the local hockey community. It grew through word of mouth, determination, and a product that worked. What started as a college side project, ran out of a garage and later his dad’s photography studio, was built one step at a time. From product development to marketing, sales, and fulfillment, everything was done by a small group focusing on getting it right. From day one, it’s been about providing the World’s Highest Quality Products and the World’s Highest Quality Service.
It grew the same way it started, one player telling another about Howies Hockey Tape. One locker room led to the next. Trust was built through consistency, reliability, and a level of service that is elite. Orders are still packed by hand, calls are answered by real people, and every detail matters here at Howies.
Customer feedback continues to shape everything we do at Howies. As needs evolve, so does the product line, expanding into wax, laces, grip tape, apparel and more, all built with the same focus on quality and performance.
What started with a few teammates quietly grew into something much bigger. Early on, it meant picking up the phone calling on teams, sending samples, and sharing the Howies story.
A turning point came when Sales Director Dave Visser landed the New York Islanders as the first NHL team to buy Howies. It proved the product could perform at the highest level, but it didn’t change the approach, it reinforced it.
Today, Howies products are used in every NHL locker room and in almost every NCAA Division I program, along with teams across the AHL and Junior Teams. It didn’t happen overnight, it came from consistently showing up, delivering, and doing things the right way.
Howies now operates out of HQ5 in Grand Rapids, serving the US and customers around the world, along with a Canadian office to support teams and retailers across the border.
Howies remains a small, family run company with customer service as the focus and foundation. Real people handle every order, answer every question, and we stand behind every product. That same commitment to quality and service expanded beyond hockey. In 2015, Howies entered the sports medicine space with Howies Athletics, bringing the same standards trusted in locker rooms to athletic trainers and sports medicine professionals. The focus stayed the same, building reliable products, listening to feedback, and taking care of the Professionals and Athletes using them every day.
Howies Hockey and Howies Athletics are rooted in family values and built on service, the goal is still simple - make high quality products and take care of the people who trust them.
To be the “World’s Highest Quality,” both in products and customer service - that’s the goal at Howies. If you’re ever dissatisfied with our tape, laces, or any other product, let us know and we will make it right - you have no risk when you deal with Howies.
