Business & Tech

JL Racing Now Open on Main Street

The custom-made athletic-wear company recently opened in Manayunk.

JL Racing—a once Internet- and phone-only, West Coast-only athletic brand—has expanded its business to the East Coast. JL Racing recently opened on Main Street in Manayunk over the Easter weekend. 

The cutom-made, athletic-wear company started off catering to women's wear clothing company for rowers in 1982 and soon expanded to track and field and now cycling. The company now offers athletic clothing for both men and women, teens, and children. 

JL Racing prides itself in making its clothing within the United States and using recycled materials for its clothing, such as bamboo and wool.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"Almost everything we sell is partially recycled or 100 percent recycled and we use natural fibers like wool and bamboo," said Manayunk JL Racing General Manager Liza Lhospital.

In addition, one of JL Racing's factories in California has become 60 percent solar-powered.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Some hardcore athletes may have already seen JL Racing's athletic designs—they've been contracted by Adidas before to design the athletic wear for Great Britain and Australia rowing teams. 

JL Racing also offers customizing the athletic clothing. Customers can choose from hundreds of different types of colors and fabrics, and will personally work with the customer to design a logo. 

According to Lhospital, it was only a matter of time for JL Racing to open up a shop on the East Coast.

"We don't want to saturate the market, but we want to meet the needs of our customers," said Lhospital. As rowing, cycling and running communities continue to grow in the D.C., Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Boston areas, Lhospital said it only made sense to set up shop in Philly, the mid-point.

"We knew there was a market here," said Lhospital. "Philly is a rowing mecca and it's becoming an athlete mecca."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here