Today we get an update on Christian action sports brand Truth Soul Armor from President Jeff Ray.
We haven’t checked in with you since you guys were acquired by C28 in Sept of 2009. What’s changed since the acquisition?
The best answer is probably what hasn’t changed. Technically speaking the acquisition is still going through the final stages. However, the physical components to the merger are up and running smoothly. We have added a location with our sales and fulfillment team now based out of C28 corporate headquarters in Corona.
Our San Clemente location will continue to house our design, marketing and new product development departments. Our core design and marketing team has stayed intact. Also, a lot of the team riders are still with us.
Other than that, operationally it’s an entirely new group. This was my first merger or whatever and I was clearly not prepared for how complicated these things can be. I see people at tradeshows and they’re like “Hey, congratulations on the deal, I thought you’d be off traveling or something.” I try to humbly explain it’s not like that and the “payday” is still somewhere out there in the future.
How is business these days? Last time you were doubling every year. Are sales up? Down? How much?
Ha!!! Well I can safely say we didn’t double in ’09. No question about that. But since then, our business has rebounded, and is growing from what was honestly a train wreck of a year. This year has really been a year of finding our feet and getting to know each other.
What have been the best accounts for the brand?
A lot of accounts have really circled the wagons and are looking to survive by just buying the big brands with deep pockets and big marketing budgets.
Buckle, on the other hand, has continued to support us. They have a great team over there and have performed head and shoulders above their competitors. We recently opened Gliks and are excited to see what we can do there. Also Tilly’s is still working with us as well as a lot of mom and pop shops that have been able to survive.
We also have the advantage of having some distribution in Christian retail. Mardel Christian stores have a long-term goal of building their apparel department and we’re a key part of that strategy. At the end of the day, every retailer matters though, and relationships are everything.
See Page 2 for more about Truth Soul Armor
Has being part of a larger company helped the brand?
Yes and no. Yes in that we’re still here when a lot of other really great brands aren’t. No in that things inevitably take longer to get done because more people are involved in the decision making process. I’m just used to calling all the shots and I have to learn some new tricks.
We have a lot of potential for combined efficiencies that we haven’t quite tapped yet, but we’re all working really hard and there are some phenomenal people over there. We’ve made tremendous progress this year and I’m confident we’ll get better as we move into 2011.
Are you growing or expanding into any new categories?
Actually, we’re really tightening things up a bit going in to the next year. We’re focusing on denim, tees, fleece, wovens, and hats. There will be some other pieces here and there, but we believe if you have solid denim and graphics, you can build a brand around that.
What is your exact role with the brand these days?
I wear a lot of hats. For the first part of the year, I spent a lot of energy on operational things with our parent company – they have wholesale, retail, and web operations – where we were very focused on wholesale previously. So there’s a bit of a learning curve there for me.
For the most part I focus on design, marketing, and help w/ key accounts. They have a solid executive team over there, so going forward, I’ll really be able to focus on these things and for me that’s very exciting.
What are the hottest selling items right now?
Obviously T-shirts. But we did do a $49.99 denim for back to school and holiday that was very successful. I’ve got team riders that want some and we’re sold out.
Also we’ve got some co-branded team stuff about to hit the market. It won’t have a giant green “M” on it, but it will be authentic, and we’re pretty excited about that.
What’s new that we should know about?
The thing I’m most excited about is our supercross team – TruthMX/MB1 Kawasaki. Check out TruthMX.com for updates.
I’m always excited for A1, but I’m literally having trouble sleeping, I’m so excited.
We’ve got some big announcements on the skate side coming up as well.
