Andy Tullis / The BulletinGarrett Loveall, founder of July Nine, holds two tote bags that his Redmond company makes, while a third bag that he also produces, can be seen on the table at left.

REDMOND — Garrett Loveall wanted a project that combined his passion for entrepreneurship with his two decades of sewing experience. And so, July Nine was born in 2012.

Three years later, that project has become his business. He designs, manufactures and ships his tote bags to places like Japan and South Korea from a garage attached to his Redmond home.

Loveall said he initially wanted July Nine — named for 9 de Julio Avenue in Buenos Aires, the widest street in the world — to create and sell winter jackets. Instead, he began developing tote bags after the city of Eugene, Loveall’s home at the time, banned disposable plastic bags in 2013. Loveall, who was making canvas overnight bags at the time, said he received requests to design a quality reusable shopping bag to fill the void.

He initially balked at the task, because he thought of reusable bags as cheap and unattractive. But these constraints — making a bag that was both utilitarian and stylish — eventually gave rise to his most popular product: a nylon bag that rolls up into its leather handle for easy transportation. Loveall called it the “Sushi Sack” because of its coiled shape, which resembles a California roll.

“Really, what I felt the market was lacking was something that you really wanted to carry,” Loveall said.

The standard, 18-inch Sushi Sack retails at $17.50, and Loveall said it was the most expensive reusable bag on the market. But the price tag doesn’t seem to have scared off potential customers or investors.

Loveall held a Kickstarter campaign for his bag in July 2013. He said he raised over $46,000 — more than four times his initial goal.

Loveall sold 10,000 bags in 2013 and 2014 and is on pace to exceed that number in 2015 alone. While he said that July Nine products are in stores across the country, including six in Portland, he added that most of the market for the bags is overseas.

“Japan and South Korea are the heavy hitters,” Loveall said. “Culturally, not a lot of people in Tokyo and other cities are car owners, so having simple, small tote bags for groceries and things is part of their large-city culture.”

July Nine touts the fact that all of its products are made in America. Loveall said that all of his bags are made in his garage by him or his three sewers; a typical Sushi Sack takes about 10 minutes to assemble using five different machines.

For all of July Nine’s success across the world, Loveall said the company has not made much of an impact in its own backyard yet. Since Loveall and his wife moved to Redmond in the summer of 2013, he has only gotten July Nine products into one store in Central Oregon: Lulu’s Boutique in downtown Bend.

Still, he sees that changing in the near future. Loveall said he will be moving out of his garage and into a new building, which will house July Nine and other entrepreneurs.

In addition, Loveall said that the company will soon be debuting “The Sequel,” a waterproof variant on the Sushi Sack that features a zipper, making it a good fit for outdoor adventures. Loveall also said that the company will be circling back around to its original goal: making a waterproof jacket comparable to Patagonia’s products.

“We want our brand to be synonymous with Central Oregon,” Loveall said. “There’s other brands here, like Deschutes Brewery, or 10 Barrel, or Hydro Flask, where you look at them and say, ‘Oh, that’s a Bend company.’ And we want people to do the same with July Nine.”

—Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com

Q: What do you consider to be your market segment?

A: Our product is not for department stores, and it’s not for stores that just sell cheap goods. It’s definitely stores that sell higher-end goods.”

Q: Where do you see the business in five to 10 years?

A: I think about three months ahead, so that’s sort of difficult. But in five to 10 years we would have our own shop built. I’m hoping to be employing at least a dozen people. And just to have a really strong distribution of brand and a variety of goods.