E-commerce startups find fitting home in remaining downtown Sioux Steel building

March 13, 2025

A century-old family business is leasing part of its remaining downtown space to some fast-growing local startups.

Three businesses that largely focus on e-commerce now are operating out of part of the Sioux Steel property in downtown Sioux Falls.

Dakota Adventure Supply, OutWest and Rink Rabbit and are leasing space month to-month in what was known as the Sioux Steel Wood Warehouse, a storage annex on the northwest side of the building.

“Although Wood Warehouse was previously critical storage for our manufacturing effort, much of the inventory was moved to Lennox during our 2021 production shift,” said Max Rysdon, commercial sales manager.

“The warehouse remained mostly empty until we were approached by OutWest about the possibility of renting storage space for his e-commerce startup.”

OutWest owner Wes Rasmussen launched his business two years ago, creating “everyday wear” for men and women with a focus on versatility.

“When we first started, I wasn’t entirely sure what our company would look like. However, I believed in our product and trusted that with time we would find our path,” he said.

Since then, the company’s sales mix is about 60 percent direct-to-consumer and 40 percent wholesale.

“Throughout the process, I’ve had the opportunity to travel, meet incredible people, collaborate with professional athletes and share our brand’s vision,” Rasmussen said. “It’s been an exciting ride so far, and I’m eager to continue scaling OutWest and increasing our market share nationally.”

Leasing space at Sioux Steel has allowed him to move the business out of his brother’s unfinished basement.

“It has been an incredible experience,” he said. “Max and the entire Rysdon family have always been incredibly kind to me. When I was running the company out of my basement, inventory was a mess, to say the least — I was constantly tripping over boxes while searching for the right SKUs. With the proper amount of space, we’ve organized everything into unique totes, making fulfillment much easier for the guys.”

Having dedicated office space also has allowed him to better separate work from home and ultimately helped him scale faster, he said.

“This year, our focus is on continuing to grow revenue and forming strategic partnerships with wholesalers,” Rasmussen said.

“OutWest started primarily as a golf brand but has since evolved into everyday activewear. While we still create many products suited for golf, we’re broadening our reach by designing apparel for everyday activities and casual wear.”

The plan is to launch a new product every quarter this year, starting in April. There also are deals in the works with national merchandising agencies as well as collaborations with athletes and content creators.

“The way I really see us growing is simply to keep pushing forward — learning from our mistakes, bouncing back when things don’t go as planned and constantly finding new ways to get our products into the hands of customers who believe in what we’re building,” Rasmussen said.

A move to Sioux Steel also helped Dakota Adventure Supply move out of co-founder Jeff Hayward’s basement.

The outdoor-gear brand manufactures its products in South Dakota and began with one: the Adventure Tote, “a giant, heavy-duty canvas gear hauler that holds 44 liters of whatever you can jam into it. When we launched, my co-founder, Paxton, was hand-making them one at a time in his living room,” Hayward said.

“When we went live on the website, we sold 10 in 24 hours and had to cut off orders because Paxton couldn’t keep up!”

The company now works with Sioux Falls-based Aerostar as its manufacturer, which has experience in outdoor gear and has “been an incredible partner,” he continued. “Seventy percent of our customers are from outside of South Dakota, which I think shows that we’ve built a brand with national appeal. It’s really exciting.”

His lease at Sioux Steel began in January.

“The building is the perfect fit for our business. I joked with Max at the start when he offered a discount on the first month for cleaning the space that the dust and cobwebs actually fit our brand better than a clean space,” Hayward said.

“It’s so close to everything going on downtown, including Startup Sioux Falls. Being so close to the entrepreneurial community is a big plus.”

Hayward continues to serve as director of programming for Startup Sioux Falls while anticipating a big year for Outdoor Gear with two major product releases.

 

“On May 1, we will launch our blanket roll, a heavy duty canvas and flannel utility blanket that doubles as a log carrier,” he said. “And on Nov. 1, we will launch our backpack — a heritage-styled, everyday backpack that can handle anything from a daily commute to the trails on the weekend.”
Presales just started for a new waxed-canvas shotgun sleeve in time for Pheasant Fest, as well as the blanket roll.

A third startup, Rink Rabbit, has grown to the point that co-founder Peter Hauck just made it his full-time job. Hauck was inspired to start the business in late 2021 by his wife, Alicen, to create high-performance gear for figure-skating athletes.

“While most figure-skating gear is designed to be ‘sparkly’ or ‘pretty,’ our products celebrate skaters as the athletes that they are and are designed to hold up to their grueling competitive practice schedules,” Hauck said.

The business started with a single bag, which was well received, and then the company launched a second bag with more color variations.

“We have plans to introduce a couple of additional products later this year,” Hauck said. “The incredible growth we’ve experienced over the last 18 months has really opened our eyes to the potential of the business, and we are really excited to see where it will go.”

Rink Rabbit has shipped products to nearly all 50 states, 26 countries and 608 cities.

Until moving into Sioux Steel, the Haucks’ garage and basement storage have served as their warehouse.

“My wife and I have not been able to park in our garage for the last six months, and the semi-trucks dropping off inventory in our quiet residential neighborhood were getting to be too much,” Hauck said.

“We started to look for other options, and this partnership with Sioux Steel fell into our lap.”

Rink Rabbit started moving inventory in last month, and “it’s been incredible,” Hauck said. “We’ve already received a shipment of inventory to the loading dock there, and it went much smoother than hauling it into our garage from the street. The pallet racking available in the warehouse has been a great improvement over the pile of boxes in my garage as well.”

Now that he’s working on the business full time, “we’ve got an exciting road map of products that we are eager to release,” Hauck said. “Our brand is really starting to gain a following in the figure-skating community, and we have no shortage of ideas coming from them. We will also be rolling out a brand refresh as well as launching two new products in 2025. It should be a busy year.”

An added benefit “is being surrounded by other e-commerce entrepreneurs,” he added. “Jeff, Wes and I talk regularly, and having the opportunity to ‘co-warehouse’ is energizing.”

Sioux Steel’s space includes pallet racking and enough room for all the startups to store and pack orders. For now, the rental term is indefinite, Rysdon said.

“Wes, Jeff and Peter are all e-commerce startups, which make them a great fit for the space we have available,” he said.

“Short-term rentals aren’t our primary business and likely never will be, so we need responsible tenants who are able to care for their space and make do with fewer amenities than you’d typically expect from a warehouse provider.”

Sioux Steel is known in agricultural circles “as a creative, innovative company, and we love finding ways to assist other businesses which share similar values,” he added.

While it depends on a business’ size, scale and need, there is some limited additional space available for other startups, Rysdon said. Interested owners can email him at mrysdon@siouxsteel.com.

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