Offbeat Retail
Witty retailer Paul Frank invites young, urban market into growing chain.

The Paul Frank store at South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, California.

“There’s a kitchy nature to the product and a sort of esoteric level of understanding,” says Ryan Heuser, president and co-founder of Paul Frank Industries (PFI). “So that invites a couple of different customer bases. We wanted to cater to the tourist market, and we also wanted to incorporate an element of discovery with our brand. So that has definitely played into some of the areas where we put stores.”

Heuser, who formerly handled public relations for Mossimo, founded the company in 1997 along with Paul Frank, a friend and newsstand employee who started making wallets to promote his band, and John Oswald, a former venture capitalist. Paul Frank Industries delved first into the accessories business, and then later into everything from sportswear to sleepwear to swimwear, sold in specialty stores and premiere retailers nationwide.

In December 1999, the company opened its first retail store in San Francisco as the ultimate showcase for the company’s broad range of products (PFI currently has 11 divisions, including Men’s Department, Women’s Sportswear, PF Swimwear, Bedding, PF Timing, PF Optometrics, Accessories, Small Paul, Her House, Paul Frank Store and Paul Frank for the Home).

PFI currently has 14 stores worldwide, including seven in the U.S. (San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Costa Mesa, California, and Orange County, California), five in Japan and locations in London and Athens. The company recently opened its first location in Seoul, Korea, and opened a 1,400-square-foot shop at Fashion Show in Las Vegas. With a front-facing location onto the main drag of Las Vegas Boulevard, the Paul Frank store features PFI’s trademark bright color palette, mixed with a mid-century design effect.

Paul Frank himself is inspired by mid-century furniture designers and architects, such as Charles Eames and George Nelson. And it’s reflected in the concept behind Las Vegas, which combines elements of the company’s South Coast Plaza store, designed by Giorgio Borruso & Associates, with Paul Frank’s original design philosophy. Large wall graphics feature the company’s signature illustrations and give the consumer a feel for Paul’s design sensibilities. While each store has a different look and feel, sometimes inspired by the city in which it’s located, the retail store’s atmosphere clearly reflects the brand’s vision, a tongue-and-cheek, whimsical feel which has been described as “organized fun.”

Recently, PFI has brought Paul Frank stores to mall-based locations, with South Coast Plaza and Fashion Show Mall. But the majority of locations are in outdoor malls or on street fronts. The company prefers corner locations and intentionally places itself next to like-minded brands such as Diesel, Puma and Quiksilver.

“Those brands represent a certain demographic that we’d like to be associated with, more so than others,” says Heuser. “But there are other areas, such as New York and Los Angles, where the main draw is that we’re in a corner location on a great street.”

PFI is still on the first phase of the Paul Frank retail rollout in primary markets or  “fashion-driven cities that dictate or embrace trends,” says Heuser.

“It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Seattle, Miami, and Hawaii are on our radar,” he says. “After that would be a secondary effort in places like Scottsdale, Portland, Boston and Atlanta.”

The company also has plans for store openings in Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Berlin and Vancouver, along with a second location in Athens. The entire retail store division represents 22 percent of Paul Frank Industries’ total sales.

“We are planning on a 40 percent increase in Paul Frank retail stores sales in 2004, which is a significant increase,” says John Oswald, co-founder and CEO.

Not only are the stores financially successful, they’ve proven to be the best, and one of the only, marketing tools for PFI.

“They aren’t driven by a need for increased sales as much as for a marketing statement and visibility,” says Heuser. “Marketing is more of a cerebral thing for us – i.e., do we feel like a market is ready for us?  We don’t want to do something that’s forced.”

 In addition to company retail stores, PFI collections are available at top retailers worldwide, including Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Kitson (Los Angeles), Colette (France), Selfridges (London) and Beams (Japan). Recent company developments include license agreements with Vestal, Inc. for PF Timing, Baum Vision for Optometrics, and John Deere for Clothing and Accessories. The company has also partnered with Mattel for a Paul Frank Barbie Doll.

— Susan H. Fishman