Generally speaking, we want so much more from the retail experience than browsing, buying and leaving these days. Things have moved on, and one of our favorite pioneers is Saturdays Surf NYC. As of 2009, the downtown live/surf brand launched its flagship space on Crosby Street in SoHo. Since then, Saturdays has launched its second NY store in the West Village and two international branches in Kobe and Tokyo.
Which ever store you’re in, you can depend on wanting to stay and hangout way beyond making your purchase, thanks to espresso bars, outdoor bench gardens and the warm and welcoming dude atmosphere. All this bromance made us want to get to know the instigators better, so we caught up with co-founder Josh Rosen to shoot the breeze.
Hey Josh, how’s business?
Business is doing very well. In the recent months, we opened our fourth store in the beautiful Japanese city of Kobe, and we also launched the second issue of Saturdays Magazine. The summer collection has just hit stores, and we are about to start selling Spring 2014 in our showroom. We are busy but having a great time.
The store doubles up as a popular hangout spot. How important is a relaxed and friendly atmosphere to the success of a store that’s still carving its reputation?
From day one, we’ve made it our mission to curate an environment where people can hang out and relax. When we opened in 2009, Colin, Morgan and myself were the only people that worked in the store. Everyone that came in felt the passion that we had for what we were doing. It was our lifestyle and our baby, and I think people really responded to that. Now that we spend less time in the stores, we make sure in the hiring process that we find people that are passionate to share our message and maintain that energy.
What’s your favorite thing in store right now?
Product wise, it’s all the patterns that we created for our summer collection. Other then that, it’s always amazing to see all the people in the back garden of our SoHo store.
If you could place a mini ocean to surf on anywhere in NY where would it be and why?
When I’m biking over either the Manhattan or Brooklyn Bridge, I always look down and see that little inlet. I feel like it would be the perfect place for a wave machine.
Can you tell us about any brands or creative’s you’re really excited about right now?
We have been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time in Japan in the past few years. There is so much going on there with men’s fashion. N.Hoolywood, White Mountaineering, and North Face Purple label are a few brands I’m feeling at the moment.
