At C28, the T-shirt will cost you but the prayer is free.
C28 at the Westfield MainPlace mall in Santa Ana is a hip boutique that sells clothing, music and accessories with the message of Jesus,some bold, some subtle.
One of its most popular brands of “witness wear” is its own NOTW, which stands for Not of This World. There’s one more thing that sets it apart from other Christian stores,em-ployees can help find your size and join you in prayer.
“We are amped up about Jesus,” said Aurelio Barreto, an entrepreneur who made millions on the Dogloo, an igloo-shaped doghouse.
Dogloo Inc. won the support,and financing,of Orange County bigwigs such as George Argyros, who had a 54% stake in Barreto’s Corona-based Dogloo. The company he cofounded, Westar Capital LLC, eventually bought it out.
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Barreto: made millions on igloo-shaped doghouses, now selling hip “Jesus” wear |
Corona-based C28, named after a Bible scripture, gets flack from some Christians for being too contemporary, too cool, Barreto said.
“We’re not about tradition. We’re about Jesus,” he said. “We want to be able to reach kids who are hurting.”
For those of you who don’t like to mix religion and business, move on to the next story. Barreto resolutely merges the two.
“The Bible says do the sacred,” he said. “My business is my ministry.”
The chain of 10 stores that prays for its customers made $7.1 million last year and is targeting $11 million this year. The clothing sells in other stores, too, such as Anchor Blue. C28 has three full-time designers.
The future of the company is franchising, Barreto said. The chain includes four franchised stores, including locations in San Jose and Solana.
Franchisees need to love Jesus and have $300,000 in capital, he said. They pay a franchising fee up front. Barreto prefers to grow the business through franchising because he doesn’t want to borrow money.
“I’m done with debt,” he said. With investors, comes advice. “I had so many bosses.”
Opening more stores in OC is a no-brainer, he said.
“It’s probably one of the biggest Christian populations in the country,” he said.
OC is home to some of the largest evangelical organizations in the country,Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, Crystal Cathedral and Trinity Broadcasting Network.
Barreto would like to see a C28 at the Irvine Spectrum Center.
Finding retail managers is tough enough, so how do you find workers who also don’t mind praying with customers when asked? Barreto said he’s made a concession there. He used to look for people who first loved Jesus.
“We now look for the retailer first, Jesus second,” he said.
Barreto said he found religion after discovering that money didn’t buy him happiness.
Despite having $21 million in the bank,after selling Dogloo,and getting to travel to exotic places such as New Zealand and Hawaii, Barreto said he became depressed.
“I was in the Young Presidents’ Organization for 10 years,” he said. “None of them were happy either. I began to pray.”
He thought of becoming a pastor or a missionary. But it was a trip to sandy Victorville that inspired him to open C28. He had been dirt bike riding there and stopped to get ice cream. Right next to the ice cream shop was a Christian store for kids.
“I was blown away,” he said.
But was it a sign? He said he then prayed some more for guidance. He opened his first C28 store in Riverside in April 2001.
For much of his early years, Barreto said he tried to buy happiness. He thought if he could just make $1 million, he’d be set. He lived in Hawthorne but envied the people who lived on the coast, he said.
“The people at the beach had everything,a big house and a beautiful car,” he said.
He did poorly in high school and didn’t go to college.
“At 18, I was suicidal. I had this emptiness,” he said.
But Barreto had a knack for business.
“I’m good at connecting dots,” he said.
He started a vending machine business, supplying bubble gum machines and, by the time he was 21, his Eagle Vending business had $3.5 million in sales. Dogloo had sales of $62 million at the time he sold it.
Now, Barreto says he’s happy and he’s spreading the word.
Barreto recently was the keynote speaker for the Orange County Outreach Mayor’s prayer breakfast and has become a regular on the speaking circuit, speaking several times a month.
“I’m sharing the good news,” he said.
Auto Mall
Santa Ana Auto Mall’s dealers are getting a fancy new sign in early May along the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway.
“We felt it was time to upgrade,” said Steve Coleman, owner of Saab of Santa Ana at the mall and Saab of Mission Viejo.
The new sign also saves electricity. Other dealers at the mall include Crevier BMW, Bauer Jaguar and Honda Santa Ana.
It’s like a plasma TV instead of the old signs with a black background and white lights. The new sign will run rotating ads for each of the nine dealers for a certain period of time, he said.
The sign will also run ads for the Santa Ana Police Department. The city helped pay for the cost of the new sign, about $500,000.
