San Clemente-based clothes designer Amerikan Project, one of Orange County’s “buzz” apparel brands, is on the hunt for a chief executive.
Cofounder Adam Port said he’s been looking at candidates but hasn’t found the right fit. Amerikan thought it had someone recently, but the person didn’t click, according to a spokesman.
Up to now, Port has run things.
He said he started Amerikan Project four years ago with a cool logo and T-shirts, working out of his garage in Capistrano Beach until the operation was “busting at the seams.”
“We’ve been building this thing brick by brick,” Port said. “We now need someone with experience to take the company to the next level.”
The company recently doubled its space and moved to San Clemente from San Juan Capistrano.
Amerikan is looking to expand sales. It recently hired a sales manager, Jeff Pool, and plans to double its sales force to about 12 workers, Port said.
Some of the first stores to sell Amerikan clothes include Jack’s Surf-boards in Huntington Beach, Beach Access and Sun Diego.
“It was pretty flattering having those accounts catch on right away,” Port said.
Amerikan has relied on word of mouth. The brand plays up Americana pop culture in its clothes, which include jeans, beanie hats and belts.
|
|
Port: Demand “hits fast and spikes quick,” Port says |
“America lives in jeans and T-shirts,” Port said. “That’s most of our line and we accessorize around that.”
Getting shelf space isn’t easy. Shops typically are jammed with garb and elaborate marketing displays from OC’s biggest surfwear companies, including Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. and Irvine-based Billabong USA.
Industry watchers say Amerikan has momentum. The company has about nine workers at its headquarters.
The privately held company declined to disclose yearly sales.
They’re estimated to be in the $3 million to $5 million range.
Amerikan’s now looking to raise money and is putting together a board of directors, according to Port.
The company continues to work through growing pains, such as filling and shipping mass orders, Port said.
“In this industry, (demand) hits fast and spikes quick,” Port said. “We want to deliver. We want to keep this alive.”
On Their Own and Looking
Two former account directors at Irvine-based PainePR have started their own gig.
Bob Ochsner and Sung Choi recently started XPR LLC in Ladera Ranch.
The firm is going after small and midsize companies in OC and Southern California, Ochsner said.
“We knew from the start that we wanted to concentrate on a target segment that was increasingly being priced out of big-agency PR,” he said.
XPR offers public relations and marketing, including plan development, corporate and brand positioning and product launches.
The firm is a two-man show. The partners said they plan to hire “several additional staff” and some free-lancers if it lands “one of several current prospects,” Ochsner said.
David Paine, founder of PainePR, offered to “refer us to prospects that may be too small for PainePR’s fee structure,” Ochsner said.
Ochsner and Choi joined PainePR in 2000. Prior, Ochsner was the director of public relations at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.
Choi spent time at Faiola Davis PR in L.A.
Still Crazy After All These Years
Irvine-based El Pollo Loco Inc. recently launched an ad campaign for its 25th anniversary that pushes 25 cent tacos and $1 deals.
The 15- and 30-second English and Spanish television ads are running in various West Coast areas, including Southern California. The campaign also includes roof banners, window signs and more at El Pollo Loco restaurants.
The $1 menu deals are slated to run through September. The 25 cent Tacos al Carbon (you guessed it, they’re chicken) will be sold until June 5. They’re available with the purchase of a family chicken meal.
