Case Study: Great Lakes Collection achieves 4x growth and nearly $500K in sales with Shopify

Great Lakes - Customer Case Study

Great Lakes is a Minneapolis-based, lake-inspired lifestyle apparel brand founded by college seniors who turned childhood lake memories into a made-in-America clothing line. They initially tested demand by printing designs on wholesale American Apparel shirts, then faced the challenge of sourcing U.S. manufacturers and overseeing quality as they moved to produce their own signature garments.

They launched on Shopify, validated demand with a $25k Kickstarter, and grew largely through social sharing, word-of-mouth and seasonal pop-up shops (including the Mall of America) with minimal paid marketing. Using tools like Yotpo, Stitch Labs and ShippingEasy while handling fulfillment in-house—with personal handwritten notes in every order—has driven strong customer loyalty and operational efficiency; the business has grown nearly 4x since graduation and anticipates nearly $500K in revenue this year.

Great Lakes Collection