OAKLAND, Calif. – Courtsmith, the sports uniform brand founded by Courtney “Court” Smith, has won a $300,000 investment from ICA, a non-profit that supports investments in companies to “close the racial and gender wealth gaps” with a vision of creating an economy that works for all. Smith began by sellingMORE HERE
GOLETA, Calif. – The shoe brand Hoka One has hired two for key design positions. Evie Moe is the brand’s first senior director of apparel. Moe has 20 years of experience in apparel, ranging from performance running to lifestyle and swimwear and most recently served as the vice president of designMORE HERE
SAN FRANCISCO – Snap-E-Tom tomato cocktail was a product of the Pioneer Ortega company, and later Heublein, and today owned by Del Monte. Made with chile peppers, onions and tomatoes, it was a Bloody Mary mix that advertised itself as the Big Brother of the Bloody Mary, Bloody Thomas. Snap-EMORE HERE
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – A group in Redwood City, Calif. failed to save a landmark sign that was the marker for the headquarters of Ampex, the nation’s pioneer maker of audio and video recorders. Through the latter part of the 20th century, the word Ampex was synonymous with technology leadership andMORE HERE
MARINA DEL REY – There are thousands of family businesses in the U.S. that were once considerable enterprises, so it is refreshing to see some of them come back, even if they are but modest start-ups. To wit, Cohen & Sons Apparel. I don’t know much about the original, butMORE HERE
Last week, I was in a Wells Fargo branch, looking at a beautifully produced booket and story of the company. It included an explanation of how it ran stagecoaches and ran money to the West, and detailed many of the innovations of the hundreds of banks that made up whatMORE HERE
LOS ANGELES – What guy doesn’t want to be Jim Rockford? Well, perhaps living in the trailer was a bit tiresome (how come they let him keep it in the parking lot?), but the rest of the life as L.A. private eye is way cool. It would be fun toMORE HERE
One of the unsung 20th century creators is Richard Whorf (1906-1966), the sometime actor who was director of the Beverly Hillbillies. Whorf was also a dancer, a designer, a producer and a writer. Whorf has a whole world view that is well to appreciate; namely traditional with a warped viewMORE HERE
Catching the film Escape from the Planet of the Apes on Planet of the Apes weekend, the movie was packed with brands. Surely there are more, but these were the ones that are highlighted, just after Zira and Cornelius, previously confined to a zoo, head out of their international pressMORE HERE
LOS ANGELES – One of the great modern hotels, The Century Plaza, is potentially going to be demolished. I say potentially because the owner, developer Michael Rosenfeld, is only applying for permission to tear it down for another real estate development. The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza is one of thoseMORE HERE