Sole Technology Inc. is testing the waters with a limited-edition run of a skate shoe brand it put on hiatus in late 2012, and it’s also expanding the apparel lineup of another.
The Lake Forest-based company makes clothes and shoes under the etnies, Emerica, Altamont and ThirtyTwo brands, with annual sales of about $150 million.
The company took its eS brand off the market for what it called a “creative retreat” in fall 2012.
Successful sales of a limited-run eS shoe, through a Japanese distributor in November, were the motivation to try something similar for the rest of the world.
The company began posting pictures of limited-edition shoes under the eS line this month, with the brand’s Facebook and Instagram “blowing up,” according to Sole Technology Chief Executive and owner Pierre-André Senizergues (pronounced Sin-eh-zerg).
Three styles, each offered in red and black, became available at select U.S. retailers last week. Deliveries to stores worldwide are expected in the coming weeks.
The lineup of U.S. retailers carrying the limited-edition eS shoes may be indicative of the brand’s direction. The company bucked mainstream chains in favor of some 30 surf and skate shops.
“To drop a limited run of eS, we wanted to make sure it was at retail, where the love of skateboarding is shared,” Senizergues said.
He added that there’s no plan yet for an official relaunch of the brand.
“We felt a lot of things were going on in our skateboard market, plus a lot of things have been changing, from the digital age to how people buy things to how communities are connecting,” he said. “So we [decided] to create this creative retreat where eS can think freely and be independent, testing certain things,” he said.
Sole Technology’s not just focused on eS.
Expanded Etnies Lineup
An expanded lineup of fall apparel under the etnies brand is due in stores in June.
The brand, launched in 1986, is rooted in street and skate culture and over the years has expanded into surf, snowboarding and freestyle motocross.
Now etnies has its sights set on putting its own spin in the booming outdoor space, whose apparel sales reached nearly $1.3 billion in December.
That’s a gain of 14.7% from the previous month, according to Boulder, Colo.-based trade group Outdoor Industry Association.
“Some of the things we’ve done with etnies apparel is bring a little bit more of that street culture design but with an element of the outdoors,” Senizergues said. “I call it the youth outdoor because we feel a lot of people like the skating trend, and with outdoors, one of the issues is the outdoor product looks old. It doesn’t look very youth-oriented.”
Sole Technology continues to focus on durability and other technical aspects behind its Emerica skate shoe lineup as a means of differentiating the brand from competitors.
Meanwhile, snowboarding brand ThirtyTwo’s boots for riders saw strong prebooking at a trade show earlier this month, according to Senizergues.
He added that the company is developing additional outerwear and apparel under the brand.
The rest of the business continues to be busy.
Senizergues hosted a group of eight officials from South Africa’s Department of Economic Development, among others, who stopped in at Sole Technology’s headquarters last week to learn more about skateboarding and the company’s community efforts, including the etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest and work with the Los Angeles Mission.
South Africa, Other Countries
Sole Technology began selling directly to consumers in South Africa last year.
That’s in addition to selling direct in Sweden, a move that also took place last year. Sole Technology plans to go direct in Australia in the fall while adding distributors in Brazil, Mexico and the U.S.
The company has developed a new revenue stream at its warehouse in Fontana, a 400,000-square-foot distribution center that Senizergues expects will meet the company’s needs for years to come. Sole Technology uses extra space at the warehouse to provide third-party logistics to other companies on a fee basis. Among its customers: shoe and apparel e-tailer ShoeDazzle.com Inc., which was co-founded by reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
Sole Technology has been providing all of the logistics support for ShoeDazzle’s U.S. business for the past three years.
The business provides an additional revenue stream for Sole Technology, although Senizergues declined to say how much of it makes up the company’s overall revenue.
“It is a growing one and it’s pretty good,” he said.
