“The long view.”
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RETAIL
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THE ORIGINS Floridian Tom Leonard is like most of his peers. He lives much of his life outdoors in the warm, sunny skies of Florida and as any local will tell you, as close to the water as possible. As a veteran retailer Tom saw an opportunity to elevate what it meant to be a surf lifestyle brand. Traditionally aimed at teenagers, the surf apparel industry had overlooked the young at heart, adult consumer who lived or aspired to live the surf lifestyle. What also became apparent was this consumer’s desire for quality, details and authenticity. Armed with a solid concept and a consumer-driven idea, Tom developed a retail store on Sarasota, Florida’s St. Armand’s Circle. This freestanding SHORE retail store was designed from the ground up to present a complete brand experience; authentic, richly detailed, lively and of a high quality and laidback casualness.
Almost from the time the store opened it was clear that the current market offering would not completely satisfy this career-aged consumer motivated not just by the lifestyle, but distinguished by their desire for a higher quality product. This signaled to Tom a need to develop SHORE brand products to fill that niche. Well into its second year, the SHORE brand continues to evolve as a very successful retail concept. Plans are under way to add a bar/restaurant to the St. Armand’s Circle location and most importantly to develop SHORE into a wholesale apparel brand, expand the SHORE retail brand and leverage the success of SHORE with new categories of licensed products.
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BRAND VISION The Shore Brand is aimed at the young at heart, adult consumer who loves the beach and surf lifestyle and insists on products of a very high quality. The Shore brand will be built upon a complete brand experience from retail stores and restaurants, to a specialty store and department store wholesale offering. As the SHORE brand grows, so will our development of partnerships and relationships to include licensed products and cross-marketing projects.
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THE CONSUMER The SHORE retail consumer can be a family or even a teenager, but the brand has been designed and caters to a career-aged consumer, man or woman. This is a consumer who acknowledges the freedom and outdoors qualities that go hand-in-hand with a beach and surfing lifestyle. The prevailing attitude for the SHORE consumer is that style is most important when creating a surf-inspired wardrobe. Closely followed by quality, then comfort and of course function. This educated consumer is accustomed to spending more for better goods. When they buy technical gear or apparel it is because they did the research and know what makes it better. They don’t trust labels on face value. They buy their clothes the same way; “Does it look cool?, Does it fit?, Does it work? Will it last?”
The SHORE target consumer is a fit, active college student or young at heart adult, man or woman. They have acquired a level of affluence that allows them to spend a bit more on casual clothing. More importantly they aspire to spend their time outdoors at the shore, on the water, at the beach or simply living vicariously through a surf-inspired wardrobe that reminds them of the freedom that comes with time off.
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THE LIFESTYLE The SHORE lifestyle is inclusive, inspiring and open to a lot of interpretation. You don’t have to surf, don’t have to live near a surfing beach or even the water to understand and appreciate the authenticity and careful quality of the SHORE brand experience and product lines. A surfing consumer will see authentic reference points from the sport and its surroundings. A casual follower of fashion will feel at home with clothes and products inspired by the beach life even if they spent their teen years in Iowa.
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BRAND TRAITS
AUTHENTIC QUALITY CREATIVE CONNECTED
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AUTHENTIC
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The SHORE brand is new, but the inspiration, the roots and details that comprise the brand are grounded in a true and tactile lifestyle. Store fixtures have surfboard materials and furniture and fittings reference modern classics and retro patterns, textures that culminate in an authentic lifestyle experience.
Of paramount importance to the SHORE brand going forward is the requirement that every iteration or brand “touch” be of a quality and thoughtfulness that is surprising and satisfying in a category not known for an upscale brand experience, no matter how casual.
SHORE is not staid fashion, but meant to be everchanging. To inspire a lighter, more carefree attitude. An approach that is about a well-rounded life filled with activity, good food, music, art and drop-in socializing.
SHORE is a consumer-informed brand. From the onset it has been a mainstay of the brand culture to involve our consumer in our decision making. We stay connected to our consumers because we know that is how to sustain and grow the SHORE brand.
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THE STORE The SHORE retail brand experience begins with a mid-century modern shell straight from the California coast. The interior design direction is part Socal residential, part shaper’s shed with a hefty dose of refined finishes and surfaces - all conspiring to create a subtle yet energetic surf shop like no other. The concept for the retail space is based on a surfer’s home with a center “living room” space that allows weary spouses a place to relax. The details of custom fixtures and caselines borrow directly from the works of Dewey Weber and a surfing lifestyle vernacular. No stone is left unturned from dressing room doors to a shaped and tuned 40 ft. wrap desk. Missing are plastic hangers and cheap vendor signage. The SHORE retail brand is a walk-in brand experience that treats guests to an environment that forecasts the quality and style to be expected in SHORE apparel and brand extensions.
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THE LINE When SHORE opened its doors in 2008 there were some t-shirts and some wovens from our namesake house brand, but it was more a test to see how consumers would react, not as an active business model. As we began to connect with our consumers and accumulated a sales history we were quick to see that the SHORE brand apparel even in its modest early form was checking at pace with national brands on the floor. In some cases it was turning faster than competing branded products. When we asked our consumers what they wanted from SHORE it was a unanimous desire for surfinspired apparel that was of a much higher quality than what was available in the store. A few trade show junkets later we were still looking for a surfbased apparel line that lived up to our consumer’s quality expectations.
What we have realized is that this is a niche in the market that has slipped through the cracks. The career-aged consumer who wants a surf-inspired look with a better fashion brand level of construction and detail does not have a brand to call their own. For this reason we will honor our consumers and react to the market by developing a wholesale apparel line for men and women founded on authentic surf style and details with a level of quality previously unavailable.
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THE “LONG VIEW” RECAP SHORE will continue to grow as a retail brand and shortly will become a complete sensory experience as we add food and beverage to the SHORE brand environment. In the coming months we will be researching and securing partnerships to launch SHORE as a wholesale apparel brand for men and women, to be sold in better department stores and specialty stores. The SHORE brand will measure its new growth of retail stores, restaurants apparel and licensed products by selecting only partners that share our consumer’s desire for high quality product lines and an authentic, fulfilling brand experience.
photography: Nick Clements, All rights reserved 2009.