Catching up with Sniper Skin

Sniper Skin started off as a local product in the Dundas area. It was designed as a stronger alternative to hockey tape, replacing the grip on the blade of the stick and increasing the life of the stick. After its impressive win in last year’s Lions Lair competition presented by the Hamilton Chamber Commerce and Innovation Factory, the people behind Sniper Skin have been extremely busy.

With the help of Lions Lair and Fluid Media, Sniper Skin founders Lee and April Wright were given the professional help they needed not only to brand their product but to come up with a new website.

“We are now in several Pro Shop stores, shipping another this week and working on more every day,” said co-founder April Wright. “It took a while to implement the process and legal documentation, but it has been flying ever since,”

With the help of a sales agent, they are starting to get their product into major retailers. So far they have shipped to Pro Shops in Ontario such as Zuperior Pro Shop in Toronto, Dangle Hockey Training Centre in Mississauga and Tydan Blades in Dundas.

With all their success in Ontario, they are expanding next to Quebec.

“Sales have been increasing every month through team sales, store sales and online. We have had retailers with great sell-through. We have an aggressive sales plan this year and we are excited to make it a reality,” said April Wright.

The business advisors supplied by the Innovation Factory have been instrumental in keeping the Wright family focused, while also challenging them daily. “Winning Lion’s Lair reinforced to us that we could make this happen and having a team of partners to help us achieve this really helped keep the momentum up,” said Wright.