Mario “Maji” Melendez says his newest business venture is a romantic story of sorts.
The 29-year-old Hispanic owner of Maji Clothing is preparing to open his first Maji retail store in downtown Santa Ana on Aug. 15, featuring his own line of accessories, clothing and furniture,the latter a new product line.
Maji also plans to offer other hip brands, including Lucky Brand and Dickies. Nuclear Pickle skateboard trucks and furniture from Room Service also are set to be featured.
But the move into retail hasn’t come without some sacrifices for Maji, which despite cool designs and Hispanic cache, has struggled to expand.
“We sold all of our furniture and all of the fixtures at the old place to raise as much money as possible,” Melendez said. “I figured if we could do it once, we could do it again.”
Melendez said he needed about $25,000,a stretch, he said, after expected financing last year never came through. The money crunch put the 4-year-old company in a bind, he said. Sales for 2000 were a mere $150,000, down from a projected $500,000.
“I kind of realized I was running out of options. We’ve been undercapitalized from the beginning,” said Melendez, who started the business with $5,000 from his savings account. Over the years he has raised $27,000 from friends and family. “I was not getting a major investor, and I wasn’t getting the large orders because I didn’t have an investor.”
But Melendez said he put too much time into the business to bail. So he sold off stuff from his old Dana Point office and raised more money from friends to pay down debt and rent a 3,400-square-foot store in Santa Ana, which is more than triple the size of his former location.
“I’m freaking,” he said with a dopey grin across his face. “It’s not like we’ve grown to that level but I guess there’s really no natural evolution.”
Plus, the new location, in the heart of downtown Santa Ana, was too good to pass up, according to Melendez, who is pushing the roots behind the brand.
The store sits just across from the art district,an area that’s being revitalized by the city. Some sections contain discount retailers with all-Spanish signage and others are planned to become trendy hot spots like Memphis Soul Caf & #233; & Bar, which will open in the next few months. The Gypsy Den cafe is already doing business.
Blocks away the same mix is prevalent,with older ethnic stores next to newcomers, such as DGWB, an ad shop that recently overhauled the old City Hall site to use as offices.
“We’ve been saying that we’re marketing to Hispanics, but this is really putting our money where our mouth is,” Melendez said.
The new Maji store is seeing some massive changes. Melendez recently peered around the gutted space, with scrappy patched walls, exposed ceiling pipes and tufts of dust from sandblasted floors, and was visibly enamored with its promise.
Within weeks he said the space, which was built in 1933, will take on more of a chic feel modeled after edgy Urban Outfitters stores. There will be natural lighting coming from high windows, olive green cement floors, khaki walls with light green accents.
“We want our customers to say this is insane, not only because of the edgy look, music, art, but we’ll be reasonably priced,” Melendez said. “We’re trying to take DKNY to the mass consumer without feeling like you’re going to Mervyn’s with fluorescent lights and round racks.”
The upstairs houses his office and the lower level will be used for inventory and the trendy retail floor. The location also will be Melendez’s headquarters for wholesale distribution (his label is carried by 50 retailers) and fund future business ventures, such as Melendez’s plan to continue opening Maji stores in other Hispanic locations. He’s scouting an undisclosed spot in San Juan Capistrano.
Scott Thompson, owner of Sweetwater Hand Car Wash in Laguna Beach and a Maji investor, said he initially thought the Maji store would be a bit upscale for the area. But he said he quickly realized it fits well with what Santa Ana is striving for.
With tough competition in the apparel market, Thompson said it’s important that the Maji brand gets visibility in the right environment, and he expects it will.
“It will also be great for all the other stores that want to buy from him to go up there and look and see what the reaction is from customers,” Thompson said. “I think it will be well-received.”
Melendez said the store is basically going to be a “mule,” holding up the business’ foundation. He concedes it’s not going to be a “slam dunk” and that he may have to “rub two pennies together for a while,” but he said he can draw on past experiences and take the business to the next level.
“It gives us the ability to really expand our company and to increase our revenue,” he said. “We’re going to try to include the community as much as possible and have deep roots in the area.”
One of the key ingredients to Melendez’s business, according to Thompson, is he “seems to know what people want who are of his market category.”
He said he hears all the time about companies that are trying to tap into the lucrative Hispanic market,and fail.
“They’re interested in making money from this demographic and he’s already got his finger on it,” Thompson said.
Stephanie Hall, buyer at Second Reef, a surf shop in Laguna Beach, said she doesn’t know how the new Maji store will ultimately do. But she said it has good prospects.
“Whatever (Melendez) sets his mind to he gets done because of his energy and focus,” Hall said. “He gets excited about things and that’s why I carry his stuff.”
Plus, she said the Hispanic influence behind the Maji line of T-shirts, button-up shirts, shorts and pants is unique.
“No one else has explored that avenue really in a fashionable sense that I’m aware of. Because he’s the first one to do that I think he’ll be successful,” Hall said. n
