The RedWhite 2020 HQ
I get many emails from customers asking to visit the RedWhite Apparel Global Headquarters. There seems to be a common impression that RedWhite Apparel has a sprawling office space, teeming with staff.
The purpose of this blog post is to set the record straight.
The table from which RedWhite Apparel is run.
Welcome to the Mothership.
The RedWhite Apparel Global Headquarters is a 2012 Macbook Pro sitting on a dining table, inside a 700 square feet flat (apartment), in a Singapore Government public housing estate. Public housing is typically viewed unfavourably in many countries. Not in Singapore where 80% of the population live in one. Public housing is a national icon. Read about it here.
RedWhite Apparel started in 2014 with a laptop, a box of bibshorts and a spare bedroom in one of these flats. The company grew slowly and eventually ran out of space for inventory. In 2017, HQ moved to a 300 square feet office. We soon outgrew that and in 2019, we moved again to a 700 square feet warehouse / office. From 2014-2019, we packed and shipped every order ourselves.
As the business grew, packing and shipping every order started taking up more time. There was less time available for customer service, product development and the Sizing Helpdesk. Clearly something had to change.
In late 2019, I made the decision to move all inventory to a small fulfilment warehouse. Orders placed on this website are automatically routed to the fulfilment warehouse. The warehouse's team reviews every order, packs them correctly, and ships them out to you, complete with a tracking number.
As I no longer needed an office space, I decided to move operations into my flat. I am lucky to have a wife who tolerates the occasional mess (fabric samples, prototypes and production ready products often lie everywhere) and allows me to commandeer the dining table between 7am and 6pm, weekdays.
Do continue below to see images from the RedWhite Global HQ (and my home) :
I use a stovetop moka-pot for my daily cup of joe. It's easy to use and clean, makes a good strong cup and is cheap. Moka pots are usually hated, but with the right method, you can get really good coffee out of it. I highly recommend watching this video on how to use it well.
Every new product is ridden hard and washed countless times in this Samsung washing machine. I usually run hot and cold wash cycles to see how fabrics hold up to abuse. NEVER hot wash lycra by the way!
I have a small store in my home that's full of fabric samples and my bikes. I own a 2018 Ridley Noah SL and a couple of foldable bikes. I believe less is more and don't subscribe to the idea of N+1. But that's just me.
A complete athlete should be strong. I installed a pull-up bar to build upper body strength with. It's helped me maintain an aero position longer on my bike.
The wife built out a mini gym in our spare room. Complete with a mirror wall, impact-absorbing mat and a dumb bell rack. I do my core workouts here twice a week. I follow a minimalist strength training routine. Details are here.
I hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes post. If you did, leave a comment and tell me what you'd like to know more about RedWhite Apparel and myself. I read every comment and will do my best to respond to each one.
Yuva , Founder, RedWhite Apparel