Case Study: R. Riveter achieves 1,273% sales growth with Shopify Plus

How Two Military Wives Grew Their Remote Manufacturing Company 1,273%

R. Riveter is a handmade leather‑goods company founded by two military spouses to create portable employment for other military families who face frequent relocations and high unemployment. Starting in an attic with just a sewing machine and a mission, the founders had to solve production bottlenecks, scale remote manufacturing, and handle big traffic spikes after a Shark Tank appearance and growing national demand.

They built a distributed network of “Riveters” to stitch pieces nationwide, brought operations to scale, secured investment from Mark Cuban, and moved to Shopify Plus with tools like Avalara, Shopify Flow, and Scripts to automate tax, inventory, and checkout needs. The results: explosive growth (1,273% over three years, 630% YoY in 2015–16), stronger conversion and repeat‑purchase rates (+55% and +18% YoY), increased orders (+28% YoY), and measurable social impact (33% of every dollar returned to military spouses; income for 103 families in 2017).

R. Riveter

Lisa Bradley

Co-founder and CMO