Akadema looking to make glove in USA

[glovemason]

I read the Akadema website a few days ago at, www.akademapro.com and it looked like they are trying to make gloves in the USA.

I spoke to the owner, Joe Gillian, and he confirmed they are looking for a Glovecraftsman and looking to do a line in the USA.
He said anyone experienced in making gloves should apply.

Nice change to see a company trying to bring work back to the USA.

[glovemedic]

I read the Akadema website a few days ago at, www.akademapro.com and it looked like they are trying to make gloves in the USA.

That will be interesting. The quality of their gloves had really slipped over the last couple of years. I was really hot on their gloves for a while, but came back to HOH because of the quality and fit.

[softball66]

Not a better guy than Joe Gilligan and he loves gloves and their history. He's a subscriber to the newsletter and a specialist in Ken Wel gloves and its rich history.
Best of luck to his efforts in this direction!

[vintagebrett]

how would one go about becoming a Glovecraftsman? Are there courses for this? Just curious, not considering a career change. Craftmanship is not one of my talents

[BretMan]

I have a strange story about Joe Gilligan.

Last November, out of the blue, I received an email from Joe Gilligan, CEO of Akadema. Here is the email:

**************************************************

Dear Mr. Stumpf,

Through some friends, I have heard that you have sent some kind words through messages and forums about Akadema.

I would like to send you our newest vintage (that's an oxy moron) glove, the Reach Babe Ruth glove , in exchange for your review in these vintage line forums and chat rooms (and anywhere else you have given us praise. ) I certainly appreciate it coming from a true "glover."

Please send your home address to us.

Best wishes to you and your family during the Holidays.

Joseph Gilligan
Akadema Inc.
CEO
317 Midland Ave.
Garfield, NJ 07026
(973) 772. 7669

****************************************************

Needless to say, I was quite thrilled- what glover wouldn't be! I own the Akadema/Ken-Wel Dazzy Vance glove and it is a beautiful piece of leather and craftsmanship, better made than many conventional gloves on the market today. I had praised this glove, as well as Akadema's dedication to the the history of the game on several discussion boards.

Several weeks passed, and I had heard nothing back nor received the glove. I sent a follow-up email to confirm that he had received my mailing address and never got a reply.

Oh well- nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess. But the whole thing struck me as rather odd and has left me scratching my head about the entire exchange.

By the way, just got back from Florida and a full slate of spring training games. Had the chance to catch the Red Sox in Fort Myers and sit a couple of rows behind the Boston dugout. This gave me the chance to get a close-up view of Manny's unique red, white and blue Akadema glove as he trotted on and off the field. Wild looking glove!

[docglov]

4 or 5 years ago Joe contacted me about making American gloves for them perhaps useing the people who had just lost thier jobs in the Ava glove plant of Rawlings. But setting up a plant would never pay for its self because the sales numbers aren't there to support this project. No one can spend the money needed for this project it would be easy to have a millon in your operation. It turns out what his final words were You make them and I will buy them from you. So I guess what he really wants is to Nikey them. Just handle the profit. But unfortunely my million's are all tied up in home loans, as soon as I double my money I will look in to it

[LemonBall]

I'm not aware of any classes available for glove making. I wish there were some.

I've been teaching myself the craft of baseball glove making for a while now. I only know that it must flow from the heart.
You need have an expert's understanding of leather and leather sources. You need strong hands with a delicate touch, you need a high level of attention to detail, you need a powerful sewing machine. The list goes on.

I've taken apart a lot of gloves and it strikes me how similar they are, when you examine their individual parts. It's given me a great sense of appreciation for Wilson's original A2000 and the work of Rollie Latina at Rawlings, who was a true innovator. These designs are still the backbone of many gloves being made today. True innovation is uncommon and Lawrence Gilligan at Akadema is one of the few modern guys pushing envelope forward.

I'm excited that Akadema is making the effort to make gloves in the U.S.A. From what I know of Joe and Lawrance Gilligan, they have a lot of passion and energy so I'm optimistic that they will find a way to make this work.

Paul C.

[softball66]

Hey Brother Brett, I just let Joe G. that he'd not responded to your email.
He's very sorry but thinks his span killer may have dropped your emails
and wants your phone # so he can call you. He said sometimes his emails pile up to a thousand or more
Joe's a really good guy! Just "stuff" happens sometimes.
I can relay your phone # via email or however you want to supply it. He's aware that you may be trying to reach him and that he would like to respond to you.
Joe

[BretMan]

Thanks for your help!

I would like to apologize if my post seemed to disparage Mr. Gilligan's reputation. After not receiving the Babe Ruth glove for review, I had written it off as a simple case of miscommunication. As it turns out, that was exactly the case.

You can probably imagine my utter surprise to have received an email from him in the first place. Why would the obviously busy CEO of an innovative glove company possibly care about the opinion of some random glove collector who just happened to praise his product on an internet chat board?

Boy...was I ever wrong!

Thanks to Joe Phillip's intervention, Joe Gilligan personally called me this evening to explain that my email to him had indeed been "lost in cyberspace". He said that he receives as many as 1000 emails a day and relies on junk mail filters to help whittle down the stack. He had never received my reply.

If you can imagine my initial surprise from his first email, imagine how stunned I was to receive a personal phone call from the gentleman!

And "gentleman" is an apt description. Not only did Mr. Gilligan take the time to explain the lost email, he spent about 30 minutes to chat about baseball, gloves and their design, his company's history, philosophy and marketing strategies and the story of how he came up with the idea of Akadema's nostalgic Hoboken Collection of vintage glove reproductions.

In short- Joe Gilligan is a true "glover" at heart! He has an intimate love for the game of baseball and a true respect for that magical concoction of leather and lace known as a baseball glove.

So, again, let me offer my humble apologies. Everyone here should should check out the Akadema offerings, particularly their vintage Hoboken Collection line-up. They have a great web site where you can see all of their offerings: Akadema Hoboken Collection

Mr. Gilligan has assured me that the Babe Ruth Reach RFO replica is indeed on the way. When it gets here, I can promise you a full report!

[softball66]

Joe G. is indeed imbued with glove love and I can't think of a better guy to ask about gloves than our Mr. Stumpf! I'm happy you two have made contact!
Joe