Retailer Mixes Fashion and Surf at Three New Stores
Specialty store Active Ride Shop, which bridges the fashion and surf scenes by selling fashion brands such as Diesel and contemporary surf-friendly brands such as Obey and Ambiguous Industries, will open three major stores by the end of the year.
On Oct. 6, the Ontario, Calif.–based chain celebrated the grand opening of its 6,000- square-foot store at The Camp specialty shopping center in Costa Mesa, Calif.
By Nov. 1, the company will have debuted a 12,000-square-foot store in the Riverside Plaza of Riverside, Calif.
The company is also tentatively scheduled to open a 6,000-square-foot store in downtown Burbank, Calif., during Thanksgiving weekend. The shop, which will serve as a concept store with an artistic edge, will feature a 25-by-8-foot mural created by Obey founder Shepard Fairey. RVCA’s Artist Network, Girl Skateboard’s Art Dump and skateboard photographer Atiba Jefferson will also install art that will be exclusive to the store.
Active Ride Shop will run 12 stores by the end of this growth spurt. The company started business in 1989 with a 1,000-square-foot store in Chino, Calif., run by Shane Wallace and his father, John. Now the private company employs more than 200 people and boasts a rare cachet for a retailer of fashion brands, according to Shaheen Sadeghi, owner of The Camp.
“The customer likes them as a core and authentic operation. That’s not easily done,” Sadeghi said. —A.A.
