Meet Michael Ranta of The Encampment Company in Tempe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Ranta.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Michael. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started my business in 2015 when I fell in love with old sewing machines. I had been riding freight trains around the US for a while and I met someone who made his vest from clothing straps and I thought, “yah, I can do that.” and so I tried it. I used an old home-sewing machine for a while and then I ended up buying scrapped industrial sewing machines and fixing them up from the cabin I lived in on the outside of town in Wyoming.

Soon enough I had 15 machines in one room and I needed more space so I moved into town and got a shop. I lived in the shop with the machines for a while (three years) and grew the business. Last year I moved the entire shop down to Phoenix where I grew up because I got a little tired of shoveling snow six months of the year.

From the beginning, I specialized in denim jackets and heavy waxed coats. In time I added shirts to the line and most recently pants. In the spring I’ll be bringing jeans to the mix. I love the business and the brand. I like the freedom of doing whatever I want and the feeling of sewing incredibly high quality clothes.

Encampment is continually growing and following my meandering directions of what I want to make and not what other people expect me to. I love my sewing machines and anyone who comes to the shop always gets a tour of them.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all. I think with any trade you’ll have a long learning curve if you’re teaching yourself and learning to pattern clothes, fix machines, and run a business are all long curves. But the hardest parts have been the personal side of running a business. When you start a business you wrap your personal feelings into the business a little too much and it can be hard to separate them after that. When the business is doing well, so am I. When it isn’t, I struggle.

Please tell us about your business.
I specialize in high end menswear. Specifically, I’m most known for my black selvage denim jackets and waxed canvas jackets. Unlike a lot of other companies, I make all of my stuff in-house and do not export it to third-party manufacturing. Right now I have quite a busy shop doing it all myself but I’ve become very good over the years, I still feel like I could work harder. There’s room to grow.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have done more market research and had a better plan for growth. I have a degree in biochemistry which prepared me for the retail market exactly 0%. But I realized that people will help you if you just ask. If you ask someone that knows how to do something, they will help you. Just ask. Ask more questions.

Contact Info:

• Website: encampmentco.com
• Email: mike@encampmentco.com
• Instagram: @encampmentco
• Facebook: /encampmentco

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