California Apparel News

San Francisco Bay Area retailer Convert closed its Berkeley, Calif., shoe store last month and reopened it as a clothing store. Next up, Convert cofounder Randy Brewer hopes to open more stores and introduce a clothing line. The Convert men’s shirt line will take a bow in April. There is no schedule for opening new stores.

Brewer and cofounder Fred Whitefield opened the Convert stores as boutiques with a focus on “sustainable” clothing for men and women. These brands often use eco fabrics such as organic cotton. Footwear store Convert Shoes was located at 1844 Fourth St. in Berkeley, about a mile from the University of California campus. Its neighbors include boutiques for brands such as Margaret O’Leary, Jigsaw and Erica Tanov.

The footwear concept was shut down because it was hard to source shoe brands that were manufactured in a sustainable way in California, Brewer said. He also believed that if his group of stores were to expand, it needed to focus on one concept.

The 1844 Fourth St. shop, now doing business under the nameplate of Convert, has sister shops located at 1809B Fourth St. in Berkeley, which is across the street and a block away from the former footwear store. Convert also runs a San Francisco store at 556 Hayes St. The San Francisco store also made a change. Last month it changed from carrying only men’s clothing to a boutique selling men’s and women’s clothing.

Brewer said his store’s demographics had a sweet spot of people in their late-30s. “I’m blown away by it,” he said. “It’s everybody from teenagers to 80-year-olds. We have a lot of looks that are ageless. Those are the looks that sell the best; everybody can relate to it.”

The Convert stores sell denim brands such as Frame, Strom and Fidelity. It offers basics lines such as Velvet and Suzie Winkle to fashion lines such as Max ’ N Chester.