Three Dots Inc. has been quietly toiling away in Garden Grove, making casual but pricey T-shirts and other clothes sold at Nordstrom, Fred Segal, Barney’s and A’maree’s in Newport Beach.
Now Sharon Lebon, founder and president of Three Dots, has the 10-year company to herself and has her own plans for it. In June, she bought out her former partner, John Ward.
“Since that time, I’ve been involved with everything,” Lebon said.
Three Dots does about $20 million a year in sales, according to Lebon. It’s been stuck at that mark for the past few years, she said.
“It wasn’t growing as much as I hoped,” Lebon said.
Now Lebon said she’s looking to expand by adding more feminine touches to her clothes, rekindling the company’s fledgling men’s line and by playing up Three Dots following among the celebrity set.
In another move, Three Dots is tripling its space to 76,080 square feet. It recently signed a six-year, $2.2 million lease at 7340 Lampson Ave. in Garden Grove and plans to move in April.
Currently, Three Dots is in three buildings nearby in Garden Grove.
Lebon said she and her former partner disagreed on most things, from the direction of the clothing line to the location of Three Dots designers.
She now feels like she has more control over the company: “It’s much more relaxing doing business now. I enjoy coming to work.”
Lebon said her aim is to add more femininity to the business, from the clothing design to the building.
“The new building will be very warm and pleasant to come to,” she said. “More of a nurturing feeling.”
Once the new building is ready, Lebon said she’ll reel in her design team from Los Angeles.
“They might not be happy about that,” she said.
Lebon’s former partner wanted design to be done in Los Angeles. She said she’d rather have the team in the next room. Distance makes communicating difficult, she said.
Three Dots also plans to add a few more designers once the team relocates.
In all, Three Dots employs about 200 workers, the bulk of which are sewers or work elsewhere in production.
Last year, Three Dots had about $24 million in sales and expects $28 million this year, according to Lebon.
Three Dots’ mainstay is women’s T-shirts, which aren’t typical tees.
The shirts come in several colors and styles and are known for their soft fabrics and a body-hugging fit.
If someone likes a T-shirt, they’ll buy it in several colors, said Sarah Angell, Three Dots vice president of sales and marketing.
And they’re not cheap. The shirts sell for $40 to $60.
|
|
Three Dots warehouse: If someone likes a shirt, they’ll buy several colors, marketing VP Angell say |
Competition is vast, but Michael Stars, James Perse, C & C; California, all of Los Angeles, are some of Three Dots’ closest rivals in terms of products and prices.
Lebon describes her shirts as “classic with an edgy twist.”
Along with T-shirts, Three Dots makes pants, skirts and other casual clothes for women and men. The company also makes maternity clothes sold at A Pea in the Pod.
One of Lebon’s goals for the year is to relaunch a men’s line that came out in 2003.
“It’s kind of been a stepchild,” she said.
Three Dots’ approach for men’s clothes is the same as with its women’s wear: contemporary styling and attention to detail, Lebon said.
Tom Cruise and guys from “The O.C.” have been spotted in Three Dots men’s T-shirts, according to Angell.
Julia Roberts wore a striped Three Dots camisole in “Erin Brockovich.”
“We have a very loyal following,” Angell said.
But celebrity exposure doesn’t necessarily mean big sales, Angell said.
“We have to translate that into press,” she said.
When a star wears a Three Dots T-shirt on a TV show, Three Dots usually gets credit at the end of the show. But who watches the credits?
“What really pays out are things in print,” Angell said.
Three Dots keeps its East and West Coast public relations office stocked with clothing. Magazine editors visit the offices, pick out what they want and cite Three Dots in the magazine, Angell said.
Sometimes, Three Dots will land a feature story, such as in the August issue of “Real Simple” magazine. The lifestyle magazine named the Three Dots T-shirt the “best overall” out of a selection of shirts.
Then there are the giveaways.
Three Dots recently put together a fleece hoodie and drawstring pants as gifts for the girlfriends and wives of the cast of “Ocean’s 12.”
And Three Dots clothes are set to be on display at Fred Segal Beauty at the Sundance film festival this week, where the stars get everything for free.
Mary Filar, director of marketing for Santa Monica-based Fred Segal, said she went after Three Dots because people are familiar with the brand, which she calls “very illustrious” and “highly coveted by men and women.”
Fred Segal also is interested in Three Dots’ new men’s clothes, according to Filar.
“We sort of pride ourselves on being different,” she said.
The payoff for such events isn’t a rush of sales, Filar said. The path is event, media coverage, then sales, she said.
Three Dots makes five collections a year. Most of the clothes are made in-house, except for the cashmere sweaters, which are made in China, Lebon said.
The company used to contract out sewing but that upped the turnaround time, she said.
“That’s why we started sewing in-house,” Lebon said.
The cycle goes like this: design, preproduction, cutting, sewing and finishing. Then the clothing is sent to Los Angeles for dyeing. Everything is shipped from a warehouse in Garden Grove. Lebon’s husband Bruno is the company’s operations manager.
Most of the work is cut to order, Lebon said. Three Dots gets orders every month and it takes six weeks to produce. It will make 130,000 units in January, which she said is daunting.
“It’s quite challenging,” Lebon said. “It’s like giving birth every month.”
The company’s biggest costs are fabric and labor. The price to import some of its European cloth has gone up because of the weak dollar and strong euro, Labon said.
“At least that’s the excuse we hear,” she said.
Three Dots offers benefits such as healthcare insurance and profit sharing to its mostly Hispanic workers. The company used to pay all of its workers’ health insurance. Now workers have to pay for a portion of their coverage, Lebon said.
Three Dots is building in other perks. The new headquarters is set to have a cafeteria, which will offer healthy food, Lebon said. That is important to Lebon, who is tall and lean and describes herself as health focused.
As it is, most workers eat from truck vendors, she said.
Lebon’s also considering a line of organic baby clothes and possibly opening stores of her own.
“It’s something we’ve talked about,” she said.
The plan for the business is to grow it to $40 million, according to Lebon. That’s the point where bigger companies start to get interested, she said. Three Dots could hit that goal in three to five years, she said.
“You just have to keep out there and maintain the vision of the product,” she said. “It’s a lot of work to stay on track.”
