Apparel maker TravisMathew LLC carved space for itself in a niche segment of the sportswear market, first aiming at golfers, and now it sees retail as the next test of consumer appetite for the high-end brand to assert itself as a well-rounded lifestyle label.
The privately held Huntington Beach-based company does not disclose sales figures. The men’s brand is sold in resorts and high-end country clubs; Nordstrom; and golf retailers, such as PGA Tour Superstore, Golfsmith and Roger Dunn Golf Shops.
Executives say about 10% of sales come from its online store but that they see e-commerce as an area of growth.
And next month, a company-owned store is scheduled to open in Fashion Island—a first for the brand and a chance to show TravisMathew’s entire product lineup, cofounder and Chief Executive Travis Brasher said.
“We’re definitely perceived as a golf brand, and our main initiative as a company is to change that,” he said.
Fashion Island is the right spot for the company’s first store because of the brand’s roots in the Southern California lifestyle and because of its target demographic, Brasher said.
“He’s a businessman. He lives in Orange County,” he said. “Fashion Island and the whole outdoor mall concept and the casualness to it was a perfect fit for us. At the end of the day, that’s where our customer is going to hang out in the summer months.”
The brand’s customers range in age from 14 to 70, but its core is affluent males between the ages of 40 and 65.
Polos start at $70, bottoms at about $80.
Appeal to Other Athletes
TravisMathew also caters to a growing diversity of athletes.
The brand got its start in the golf world because that’s what its founders were familiar with—Brasher and majority owner John Kruger are both golfers—but its athlete sponsorships have since expanded into tennis, surfing and race car driving, beginning with last year’s launch of a fitness and tennis line called TMCA.
The TravisMathew Fashion Island store isn’t seen as a one-off.
Brasher calls company-owned stores “a big focus for the brand.” A second store, most likely outside of Orange County, could open as early as the end of the year, depending on the first store’s performance and the information the company learns about existing and new customers.
“Outside of our online store, we don’t really have the ability to know what our customer likes and is buying,” Brasher said. “So we’re going to be able to tell our story from a lifestyle standpoint and also know our customer’s trends and what they want and don’t want.”
Company executives don’t view growth of company-owned retail as competition to existing accounts, Brasher said.
Many of the country clubs that carry the brand place their logos on the products, offering something unique to their stores.
Additionally, company-owned units will act as marketing vehicles for the overall brand, which should benefit TravisMathew and its retail partners, Brasher said.
Last year, pro tennis player Andy Roddick made a minority investment in the company and also inspired a full fitness line company executives expect to hold a soft launch for this year.
The casual, technical clothing, like all TravisMathew pieces, can be worn throughout the day and outside the gym.
The company made new hires, such as the recent addition of Sean Pence, former chief operations officer for Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc.’s Americas region, to support growth. Pence serves as COO and general counsel and is part of a team of about 55.
Brasher said the company may also fill a key sales position this year.
Meantime, another TravisMathew cofounder and majority owner, John Kruger, recently started a separate business, American Made Fashion LLC, testing the waters for domestic manufacturing at a facility in Los Angeles. TravisMathew has made a few small test orders with the company, which also services other apparel makers. Most of its products are currently made in Peru and parts of Asia.
Beginnings
The two met when Brasher was working as the head golf professional at SeaCliff Country Club in Huntington Beach and Kruger, who had a metal manufacturing business in Seal Beach, was taking lessons from Brasher.
Brasher was looking for new business opportunities and said he felt there was a hole in the market for a line like TravisMathew. The pair, along with Travis Johnson, founded the company in 2007 and began shipping orders in 2008. Johnson was pursuing a professional golf career at the time of the company’s start and left TravisMathew shortly after its founding.
“I just wanted to control my own destiny at the end of the day and not rely on other people’s decisions. I’m kind of a control freak,” Brasher said. “We felt like there was a huge opportunity in the marketplace. No one was making clothes that you could wear on and off the course.”
