Since launching its first line of clothing last fall, Newport Beach apparel maker Paul Frank Industries opened its first company store last week and is expanding sales to big department stores.
The company, named after designer Paul Frank, is best known for its T-shirts and junior accessories featuring a monkey logo. The new 800-square-foot store, in front of the company’s headquarters, is stocked with Frank’s sportswear, T-shirts, pajamas, purses, clocks and furniture.
“Eventually I plan to have my own stores in select countries,” Paul Frank said.
Paul Frank also is growing its business with Nordstrom Inc.,expanding its line into all of the Seattle-based chain’s stores on the West Coast. And the young company recently shipped its first order to Harrods Knightsbridge in London.
“That’s high-brow visibility for us and a huge endorsement for our future,” said Ryan Heuser, president and co-founder, whose $1,000 investment kicked off Paul Frank Industries in 1995.
The debut of Paul Frank junior apparel, particularly a new pajama line, has stepped up business across the board, Heuser said. Annual sales are expected to double this year to $10 million. Japanese cartoons, punk rock music and the mod movement of the 1960s inspire the company’s products. Stores such as Fred Segal, PacSun and Tilly’s carry portions of the line. Nordstrom carries the entire line.
The company recently talked with the folks at South Coast Plaza about a store in the former Crystal Court section of the center, Frank said. But he’s holding out for the opportunity to open a unit in the more prestigious main section of the mall.
Frank is not your typical CEO. Three months ago, he moved out of his parents’ home for the first time. He never went to college. And never mind the golf links, Frank is a guitarist on weekends for the rock band Moseleys, whose members wear tight plaid pants, white shirts and ties, pageboy wigs and faux fur coats. The band is the upcoming cover story for OC Weekly’s in July, he said.
The company has 30 employees, 25 sales representative and distributors in Japan, China, Taiwan, England, Canada, France, Sweden and Australia.
Paul Frank also struck a deal with its first licensee to manufacture its signature products in Australia, where Melbourne-based Diehard will begin shipping the product in the fall.
