PacSun

Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	OTC Pink: PSUNQ
Founded	1980
Headquarters	Anaheim, California, U.S.
Number of locations	645 (June 2013) [1]
Area served	United States w/ International Shipping
Products	California inspired clothing, footwear, and accessories.
Revenue	USD$215 million (2014)[1]
Net income	$15 million (2014)[1][1]
Number of employees	10,300 (2014)[1]
Website	pacsun.com

Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc., doing business as PacSun, is a United States-based retail clothing brand rooted in the youth oriented culture and lifestyle of Southern California. The company sells lifestyle apparel, along with footwear, jewelry, collaborative streetwear pieces and accessories designed for teens and young adults. As of late 2011, the company operated over 800 stores in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. PacSun is headquartered in Anaheim, California and operates a distribution center in Olathe, Kansas. The company's regional directors, district managers and store positions are located throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.^[2] On April 7, 2016, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ^[3]

History

PacSun was founded by Jack Hopkins and Tom Moore in 1980 on the premise of "bringing the beach to the people". Hence, their first surf store was located a long way from the beach at the Meadows Mall in Las Vegas. They quickly expanded, however, back to their Southern California beach roots by opening stores at the former Marina Pacifica Mall in Long Beach, Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, as well as the Brea and Westminster malls. Tom was the surfer and image of the company; whereas Jack was the business side of the company, as a former CPA with the Arthur Andersen Company and then working as a commercial shopping center broker with Marcus & Millichap.

Prior to PacSun, Tom and his partner Randy Blumer owned and operated another surf store at the Santa Monica Place mall under the name of Ocean Trends. Once Tom joined Jack as 50/50 owners of PacSun in 1982, Randy opened three additional stores of his own including the Westside Pavilion and Thousand Oaks Mall Mall. After PacSun reached five stores, they brought in the strategic partners Merritt, Ron and Abby Sher best known as the founders of Terranomics. Once PacSun opened two more Southern California stores, they saw an opportunity in 1987 to get some Wall Street help and brought in several venture groups such as Sprout Group (part of DLJ) and Consumer Ventures. One of the first moves was to buy out Randy Blumer's three surf stores and the Ocean Trends store in Santa Monica owned by both Tom and Randy. Now there were 11 stores and they were all renamed Pacific Sunwear.

Since the Company with new found capital was looking to expand quickly, they ended up hiring Harvard-educated Michael Rayden as their new President. Mike was the former President of Stride-Rite Shoes and previously the Eddie Bauer Company. In 1993 the Company went public on NASDAQ under the symbol "PSUN". They had approximately 60 stores at the time. They quickly grew to over $1 Billion in sales by 2002, and by the time they grew to over 1300 stores in all 50 states, they had a market value of over $2 Billion. Once the recession of 2007 came, this company like others had their problems and the store count was down below 1000 by 2013.

The company offers products for both men and women that include: jeans, tees, tanks, polos, knits, flannels, hoodies, boardshorts, bikinis, shorts, pants, dresses, rompers, skirts, sweaters, jackets, snow apparel, shoes, sandals and accessories.

PacSun built its business selling merchandise from established surf brands such as Quiksilver, Hurley, O'Neill, Billabong and Roxy but has long since expanded to include skate and street wear labels like Volcom, Vans, Converse, RVCA, DC Shoes, WESC, Nike, Diamond Supply Co., Young & Reckless, and Enjoi plus many more. Additionally, PacSun has been producing and selling apparel and accessories under proprietary brand names titled Bullhead Denim Co., Bullhead Black, On The Byas, Nollie, Kirra, Check & Stripe and Sound & Matter for some years now.

In May 2011, PacSun launched its first national advertising campaign called 'Dress Irresponsibly'. The highlight of the campaign included television commercials aired across a variety of networks that featured famous athletes from the brands they work with. Appearances by Rob Machado, Bucky Lasek, Chris Pfanner, Kelia Moniz, Ryan Dungey and Leo Romero, were significant in helping re-establish the brand among its male audience. Other elements of the campaign included print media in both endemic and fashion publications, and a digital engagement initiative on Facebook titled 'Dress Irresponsibly: Style Challenge.' Through a customized Facebook app fans were encouraged to upload photos of themselves that met weekly style challenges in exchange for a chance to win a styling gig at Nylon in New York City.

Following the launch of the Dress Irresponsibly campaign, PacSun continued to evolve from just a surf and skate apparel shop into a leading retailer of emerging brands, particularly for women. Collaborations with notable design minded labels Whitley Kros and LnA coupled with a turn to style and fashion focused garments has given the brand an elevated look.

In 2012 PacSun collaborated with sisters Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner to produce their own fashion line based on their personal style.

In an attempt to connect to the company's California roots, the brand launched a national digital and print initiative titled Golden State of Mind. Golden State of Mind, or GSOM for short, is about celebrating the creativity and diversity of California and its people. Working with photographers Nicholas Maggio, Harper Smith and Andrew Kuykendall, PacSun has looked to capture the beauty and imagination of California through lifestyle imagery from such places as Lake Arrowhead, Los Angeles, Malibu, Pismo Beach, Big Sur, and San Francisco. As part of the initiative, the retail giant created a lifestyle content website called GSOM.com. The site includes an interactive experience containing: campaign imagery and videos, landscape photography, a series of city videos that highlight the best places and locations in California, an interactive map, a user generated social media feed from Instagram, and a blog focused on: fashion, music, art, entertainment, action sports and brands.

The company's stock is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol PSUN.

Pacific Sunwear Corporate Headquarters

In 2015 the company received criticism and boycott threats for selling a shirt designed by rapper ASAP Rocky that featured an upside down American flag, which symbolizes a country in distress, during Memorial Day weekend. The company released a statement saying they would remove the shirt out of respect to those who have served in the military.^[4]

On April 7, 2016, PacSun announced that they were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.^[5]

Restatement

On February 23, 2005, the company restated results for certain periods to correct its accounting for leases.^[6]

References

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-hopkins/28/a95/80b

External links

• Official website