Shutting up shop proves the best move
It's a tough call for any business to shut up shop, so to speak. But for Matt Dampney, founder of cutting edge clothing brand Damp Streetwear, it was the right move at the right time. One he hopes will help him connect with an investor to take his brand global. Dampney also runs a boutique design studio specialising in branding called Damp Design.
At the end of 2012 Dampney decided to eschew a bricks and mortar strategy and close his shopfront, located in Curl Curl, in Sydney's northern beaches. Instead, he is rolling out an online strategy for the clothing side of the business. It's a novel and practical response to the tough retailing environment.
"People loved coming to the shop but it was hard for them to discover it hidden away in a little seaside town," Dampney explains. "With online, there's lots of opportunities for people to come to you. Yes, there's more competition, but in contrast running a quiet shop was much more difficult and challenging."
Before he closed the shop Dampney was paying around $20,000 a year in rent and working solo. Now he works from a vibrant co-working space in Manly called Berrins with a community of creative entrepreneurs for less than $700 a month.
"I really needed to streamline the clothing business. We were having monthly gallery shows and parties in Curl Curl, which is a core part of the label, but expensive on top of having to pay big rent. Luckily Berrins is a converted retail space and on the weekends I can use it as a pop-up store which gives me access to a much bigger audience in Manly compared to further up the coastline."
Dampney estimates rental for a shop in Manly would cost him roughly $50,000 a year. "The way I operate now, for a couple of hundred bucks a weekend I can have a fully fitted out shop and create our own Damp environment filled with art and t-shirts. That's where retail is going; it's all about finding cheaper ways to sell things - there's a reason why you see shops in Manly close every month."
He's also identifying smart ways to market the business online. For instance, he recently did a campaign with Sprout Daily, which is a daily blog filled with dawn shots of Manly taken by local photographer Murray Fraser. The blog is distributed to thousands of people each day and Dampney advertised his t-shirts in the blog during the week-long promotion.
Aside from his clothing business, Dampney also runs a thriving graphic design firm from his new Manly base. He has recently entered into an arrangement with a local marketing consultancy, Marketing Angels, to be its creative director.
Dampney's background is in medium and large creative agencies, but five years ago he decided to go out on his own so he could see more of his creative ideas come to fruition. His clients have included Universal Sony, EMI Records, Cosmax and Remington.
"I got jack of the agency world. There was always a level of people stopping your creative ideas from going through. I wanted more control over the creative process so I decided to go on the adventure of starting my own business," he said.
The street wear side of the enterprise came three years ago. "Street wear had always been a hobby but it became more serious when I started to make good connections in manufacturing," he explains.
Dampney started small with market stalls in Manly and Narrabeen. "I realised that was a difficult row to hoe and that's when I decided to open the store, which was a space where I could combine both businesses." He's now fully focused on running the design business from his new Manly home and ramping up online sales of his streetwear gear.
He's not phased by big online competitors like clothes e-tailer The Iconic, which offers same-day delivery of its products. "Where they are is exactly where I need to be. The volumes they do mean they get good postal rates, which makes it hard for smaller guys, but we'll get there."
As for the future, Dampney says, "the beauty of online allows me to express myself creatively and connect directly to consumers around the world. At some point I'll need to find the right type of investor to take the business to the next stage."
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
At the end of 2012 founder Matt Dampney closed the Curl Curl shop because it was hard for customers to discover and the retail environment was tough. Moving online gives more opportunities for people to find the brand, lowers fixed costs and lets him connect directly with consumers while he builds the business.
Before closing the store Dampney was paying about $20,000 a year in rent. He now works from a Manly co‑working space for less than $700 a month and can run weekend pop‑ups for a couple of hundred dollars, avoiding the roughly $50,000 a year rent a permanent Manly shop would have cost.
Berrins is a converted retail co‑working space in Manly where Dampney works with other creatives. He uses it as an affordable base during the week and as a pop‑up location on weekends, giving access to a bigger local audience without the costs of a full‑time shop.
Dampney experiments with targeted online promotions — for example he ran a week‑long campaign with Sprout Daily, a popular local blog, to advertise t‑shirts to thousands of readers. He focuses on cost‑effective digital tactics that connect the brand with consumers.
Weekend pop‑ups let the brand create a fully fitted retail environment for a small outlay (a couple of hundred dollars) and showcase art and product to a larger audience in a high‑traffic area, while keeping the business lean and online as the primary sales channel.
Dampney isn’t phased. He acknowledges large players get advantages such as better postal rates and same‑day delivery, but says their presence shows where the market is headed and he believes his brand can grow online over time.
Dampney also runs Damp Design, a graphic design studio, and has an arrangement to act as creative director for local marketing consultancy Marketing Angels. His background includes work in medium and large creative agencies with clients such as Universal Sony, EMI Records, Cosmax and Remington.
Dampney plans to use the online channel to express creativity and reach customers worldwide. He says that at some point he will need to find the right type of investor to take the business to the next stage and help the label go global.
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