About Riggins Canvas

Riggins Canvas & Awning is rooted in generations of hard work, craftsmanship, quality, and family tradition. The Riggins name is synonymous with creativity and inventiveness within the canvas and awning industry, and that legacy now spans four decades, three generations, and counting...

Our story begins in 1983, when our late grandparents, Bobby and Jane Riggins, established Alpha Canvas & Awning Co. in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina. What started as a small, custom shop focused on canvas awnings quickly grew into something much more through dedication, skill, and a reputation for doing quality work the right way.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the business evolved into larger, more complex projects, expanding well beyond just traditional awnings. During that time, my father, Eric Riggins Sr., became a pioneer in the motorsports side of the industry, creating the first fully custom NASCAR car covers. These covers were designed to resemble the cars themselves, with patterns carefully crafted by hand, complete with hand-stitched logos and graphics, setting a standard that helped shape an entire industry.

Fast forward to the 2010’s and beyond, our family continued to revolutionize the canvas industry with moves into countless other genres of motorsport, projects within the experiential marketing industry, and inventive designs that pushed the limits around the traditional idea of awnings and shade.

I grew up in that shop alongside my six siblings, surrounded by sewing tables, brown pattern paper, and rolls of fabric. What began as me running around the shop and creating my own “projects” out of scrap material, naturally progressed into learning the trade from the ground up. In 2010, I officially began my professional career in the awning industry as an installer. Over the last fifteen years, I worked my way through nearly every role in the shop, gaining hands-on experience in fabrication, installation, materials, design, and production from front to back.

That journey — combined with the knowledge, creativity, and passion passed down from my grandparents and my father — prepared me to launch my biggest project yet: Riggins Canvas & Awning. This company represents the skills I’ve developed over a lifetime in the industry, and a continuation of the values I was raised on: pride in workmanship, attention to detail, and standing behind everything we build.

I am founding Riggins Canvas & Awning with the hope that my two sons, Ryder and Brooks, will grow up with the same memories I did — running around the shop, learning the trade, and being part of a truly family-oriented business, not just in name, but in practice. My goal is to build something lasting, not just for today, but for future generations, so one day they can carry this tradition forward with their own families.

Riggins Canvas & Awning is more than a business — it’s my family trade. Built on generations of craftsmanship and carried forward with pride and purpose in every stitch.