Art and Sports Infuse a Novel Store
Staff photo by Ted Reckas Photo by Rawlando Locals Bob Hurley, left, and Roger Wyett, Hurley Inc.'s president, in 225, a distinctive retailer that opened downtown. Hurley Inc. opened an experimental retail store in downtown Laguna Beach last week that defies its own traditional corporate boundaries by selling Nike, Hurley and Converse brands for the first time under one roof.
The Forest Avenue store defies convention in other ways, too.
Rather than prominent product displays vying for customer attention, a two-story mural in a kaleidoscope of color dominates the store's interior space. A corner of the store's second story loft looks more like a print shop than a sports retailer, filled with machinery that allows patrons to customize their high-tops or t-shirts with $10 graphics before collecting a receipt. Even the store's name, 225, telegraphs out of the ordinary.
The unusual store environment, in development for 18 months, celebrates action sports and creative youth culture and the artistic threads that bind the two worlds, said Roger Wyett, Hurley's president and chief executive and a Laguna Beach resident.
"This is new territory. We're exploring with the kids," said Wyett, who even eschews grandopening promotion, putting faith in the viral influence of texting teens. "Kids live virally. If the proposition is great, they'll find it," he said with confidence.
Laguna Beach provided the logical taproot for Nike's pilot because of Orange County's dominance in action sports and the town's artistic roots, he said. "Our opening on Artwalk was no accident," he said, referring to a July 2 party as crowded as a concert mosh pit, complete with burly un-Nike like bouncers guarding the entry.
Even the allure of sushi and martinis downstairs couldn't compete with the upstairs workshop, jammed with eager patrons. Among them was high school principal Don Austin, waiting in line to see a skull emblazoned on his board shorts, according to Bryan Cioffi, who adapted inking machines to hold Converse shoes and t-shirts. Every custom graphic purchased will tip $1 into the high school art department budget, Wyett said.
During regular business hours, customers craving customization are urged to make an appointment online or in the store to spend 30 minutes with a "maestro" trained to provide suggestions on how to trick out gear.
It's too soon to know if Nike will duplicate the 225 store concept elsewhere, said Reenie Benziger, Hurley's senior retail vice president. "We want consumers to tell us," she said.
