KEY OC DATES: Founded in 1980 in Newport Beach. Moved headquarters to Anaheim in 2001.
LEGACY LEADERSHIP: Jack Hopkins founded Pacsun with Tom Moore as a small surf shop. Under Hopkins’ early leadership, the company went from a local shop to a national retailer, scaling to over 1,000 locations at its peak. Current CEO Brieane Olson has recently been driving growth through notable brand and technology collaborations, and is finally restarting retail expansion.
HQ: Anaheim
OC SIGNIFICANCE: Pacsun anchors OC’s apparel sector, bringing Southern California’s beach culture and lifestyle to malls nationwide. It established the region as a capital for fast-fashion retail operations.
DEFINING MOMENT: Harvard Business School in 2026 authored a case study on Pac Sun’s transformational story.
BY THE NUMBERS: With over 300 stores currently open globally, Pacsun has 475 Orange County and 5,920 company-wide employees as of April 2026.
QUOTABLE: “It’s really important to think about how control needs to move from more traditional infrastructures into a mindset of truly putting your community as your number one stakeholder.” — CEO Brieane Olson
FUN FACT: The company shortened its original name, “Pacific Sunwear,” on store signs in 1999, influenced by younger generations calling the brand “Pacsun.”
