Our Story

Red13 Sport started out as a hobby in 2016 in the northern Illinois town of Belvidere.    We started creating posters, photos and prints for our sons youth hockey team with some photos that one of the moms was taking.    We were just messing around having fun.   

We then purchased a laser engraver to just grow the hobby, and see if we could make a few bucks and get some new equipment.   We started off making wood products and going to craft fairs and markets, wherever would have us.   It was an incredible experience of meeting new people, whether it be customers, other fellow hobbyists or other businesses.   It did not take long to realize that this was way more fun then going to a job everyday.  

So we started an Etsy page selling coach gifts and player gifts.   Within 3 years we were in the top .1% of Etsy shops in the world, which was an amazing journey.  We couldn't believe it was happening and the shop just kept picking up steam.     We reinvested most of the money in the business and just kept building up our equipment to be able to meet the demand.  

Our house had turned into Red13 central, and i was obvious we had outgrown our home.    The living room was completely overtaken with machines and computers.  The garage and basement was filled with inventory, and in August of 2022, we moved into our first shop in Belvidere, IL.    At the same time we had built our website.   

This journey for us has been an incredible unpredicatable, exciting ride.    Thank you for stopping by our site, we really do appreciate it, and thanks for supporting small business.

Michael Viita
Owner