Fred Koops grew up in Toronto’s East End known as the 'Beach' and went to High School at Malvern Collegiate. Later on as a Volleyball player for the University of Waterloo Fred began to design t-shirts to raise money and awareness for the team. 'Black Plague' gear became a small phenomenon and a sea of black followed the successful Waterloo team around the province.

In the summers, Fred was playing beach volleyball on the Canadian tour. Most beachwear lines at this time were coming out of California or Australia and in 1990, encouraged by the past success of the 'Black Plague', Fred developed the Overkill brand as a Canadian beachwear equivalent. Worn by himself and select local pros, Overkill designs began to catch fire and Fred realized that he had created demand before there was a supply.

Fast forward one year to March 1, 1991. After sharing a retail space with a slightly warped cartoonist, and being laughed out of traditional lending institutions, Fred convinced his parents to re-mortgage their house for the cause and moved Overkill to its present digs at 2130a Queen St. E.

Upon opening at this new location, an Overkill sponsored beach pro, Ian Eibbitt, joined the Overkill store team as a salesperson and assistant manager. With his experience in retail and his enthusiasm for the line it wasn’t long before Ian took on a larger role as buyer and manager of the store. At the same time, Fred’s brother Stephen came in to sort out the pile of outstanding bills and miscellaneous sheets of paper with numbers on them. He did such a good job at stopping the collection agencies from calling it was decided to keep him on as Overkill’s official bean counter.

Overkill’s profile exploded in 1996 when Mark Heese and John Child - Overkill sponsored athletes and longtime friends of Fred and Ian - won the bronze medal for beach volleyball at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Overkill was featured in a variety of print and television media. Soon it seemed that every day something cool was happening in the Overkill community. Kris Draper brought the Stanley Cup into the store. Ed Robertson from the Barenaked Ladies (a store regular) was photographed in a Freddy shirt for Rollingstone Magazine. Ian and Fred became fixtures on TSN’s Off the Record. And it was sometime during all of this great chaos that Ian and Stephen finally became part-owners of the company.

Staying true to its roots, Overkill maintained involvement in Ontario’s beach volleyball scene and started their relationship with the Ontario Volleyball Association. Before too long, the Overkill name became a recognized name in both indoor and beach volleyball across Canada. Fred and Ian’s passion for the sport will always be reflected in the direction of the line.

Outside of volleyball, the company continues to grow exponentially each year. In the past, partnerships have been formed with Ford, Labatt, the Toronto Grand Prix, Ontario Lacrosse Festival and numerous other camps, associations and events.

Now, over 15 years since its inception, the Overkill flagship store is a local institution and our Overkill brand continues to expand it's profile with cool designs and damn good karma.