Triple Five Soul Opens First West Coast Showroom
New York-based urban, street and skatewear company Triple Five Soul recently opened a showroom in the California Mart. The 11-year-old label had previously done business on the West Coast, but the new showroom is the first central point of operations for the company in the region.
“This will be a meeting ground, a central location where, if someone comes into town, they can meet us here,” said Bryan Wilson, who reps the line on the West Coast along with Steve Sais. “There are a lot of good accounts that come here for market week and we can use the exposure. This is our showroom, but we’ll also do some special-event stuff.”
Wilson and Sais have been showing the collection at both MAGIC International and the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo, securing Macy’s West, Fred Segal and Bloomingdale’s as buyers. The two now plan to focus more effort on surf shops in Southern California beach areas, including Hermosa Beach and Huntington Beach, where, Sais said, “patrons go to do their real shopping,” and plan to make specialty stores their primary target in the region.
The line has already been placed at such Southern California stores as Paliskate and the Closet in Pacific Palisades and Nicholas Blue in Malibu, and plans are in the works for Huntington Surf and Sport in Huntington Beach.
“These are the areas where kids don’t go to the malls except to hang out,” Wilson said.
Wilson and Sais said they expect Triple Five Soul to do well in this market, offering garments for a variety of lifestyles in addition to urban.
“The line is a mainstream line, which crosses over well into surf, skate and fashion,” said Sais. “We have better-end pieces for more dressy styles that fall in between.”
Sais said that he and Wilson want to build the business for Triple Five Soul on the West Coast and eventually rep the women’s line as well.
“We don’t [currently] carry womenswear in the showroom,” said Sais. “That’s up in the air, but we want to be the big West Coast reps. We want to keep the growth going and at a steady pace.”
Wilson and Sais, along with some of the top brass from the New York corporate headquarters, will host the Grand Opening Showroom Warming Party to officially welcome some of their key West Coast accounts on Dec. 17. —Darryl James
