Curtis Medlen, 47-year-old co-founder of Spokane Valley-based Sport SAQ USA Inc., says he first got the idea 20 years ago to create athletic bags with specially-designed compartments to carry the gear specific to a sport such as basketball.

As someone who played in several sports as a youth, Medlen says he has always been a huge sports fan and wanted to create something better than a basic one-size-fits-all duffel bag.

"I was a kid who carried the ball around under my arm all the time and got in trouble in school for carrying it around," says Medlen, who started the business with his mother and stepfather, Lola and Lloyd Emter, and manages it. "I played all three sports—basketball, football, and baseball."

He first designed and sewed a basketball bag prototype using his mother's sewing machine. The family business's first product, now called the Hoop SAQ, had a ball compartment, a separate ventilated space for shoes, and other features such as an insulated holder for a water bottle.

Medlen received a patent in 1995 for that basketball bag concept, currently the company's only patented design that was used to create its similar volleyball and soccer bags. The Hoop SAQ, essentially the same product now as Medlen originally designed it, remains a top seller for the company.

Today, the company sells several bag styles specific to different sports at its retail store at 1511 N. Mullan, including bags for football, soccer, baseball, and volleyball. It also sells a multisport backpack, as well as an athletic bag for general fitness to be used for gym workouts.

Prices for the bags range from $40 to $50, Medlen says, but for sports teams buying in bulk, the cost drops to $33 to $35 a bag.

"We have revolutionized the athletic bag industry from duffel bags to sports-specific bags for all sports," Medlen contends. "Each bag is designed specifically for the personal sport gear of that particular sport activity."

In July, Sport SAQ USA moved into the leased 1,500-square-foot retail space on Mullan Road, near Mission Avenue. The business relocated there after spending 14 years at 111 N. Vista, where it sold products to retailers on a wholesale basis.

The move came two years after a change in approach at Sport SAQ through which the company switched to selling directly to retail customers and through online retail sales, Medlen says. The company now doesn't sell any products on a wholesale basis, he says.

Medlen and his sister, Cindy Medlen, are its only two employees.

The company was founded in 1994, and Medlen says his mother headed up the business until about a month ago, when he took over full control through an agreement with his parents to buy the business from them.

Medlen says he's in the process of raising capital from silent partners here to form a new company, called American Performance Brands LLC, to operate the business.

He adds, "Sport SAQ will remain as the brand name for the product line. We're acquiring the assets of Sport SAQ, including the brand."

He declines to name any potential partners, but says he also is working with Spokane-based investors to grow the business, under a three-year expansion plan. He says one of the initial goals under the plan is to find a separate space here to lease for a headquarters.

"We're looking for an 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot warehouse and office space by the first of the year, and we're looking at hiring 12 to 15 individuals by January," Medlen says.

He says the company will seek to grow sales nationally and globally, including online sales and direct sales to schools, teams, and sports leagues.

Medlen adds that under those plans, he envisions eventually locating retail outlets in five to 10 U.S. markets that will have a retail storefront and team sales. Currently, Sport SAQ bags are manufactured in China, but Medlen says future plans call for moving at least some manufacturing back to U.S. locations.

"Our growth plans include acquiring other companies which are complementary to what we're doing," he says.

While he declines to disclose the company's current revenues, he says since 1995, it has sold more than $6 million worth of products.

"We're looking to do close to that much, $6 million, in our first year of our three-year expansion in 2013," he says.

The company recently sent a complimentary Hoop SAQ for delivery by Sen. Maria Cantwell's office to President Obama, who plays basketball recreationally.

Sport SAQ also will provide bags to a U.S. team as a sponsor of the National Adult Baseball Association's World Series in Arizona Oct. 7-13.