I think this local brand deserves recognition here. Local guy, T-Rex Graduate, Arch Grant Finalist Headquarted @ 555 Wash Ave, and their clothes are manufactured locally in Soulard. I wish them the best

Jimmy Sansone’s clothing brand growing quickly

“I think people just really liked the idea that there is this huge area in the middle of the country, and we’re the first brand saying we’re designing for these people,” Sansone said.
Since the spring his company has added three new employees, including Craig Ceranna as president and chief operations officer. Ceranna previously served as managing director and chief financial officer of Yurbuds and before that vice president operations for Cepia LLC, maker of the Zhu Zhu Pet toy line. Normal Brand has also moved offices, from a location at T-REX to a space at 555 Washington Ave. that is several times larger.

"With larger-than-expected retail orders, Sansone expects to generate $500,000 in revenue for the year and $2 million for 2016. (Earlier this year he projected $160,000 in revenue for next year.)
Sansone and his group are finalists for an Arch Grant and are beginning to search for other sources of capital to help expand. “We have a preference for Midwest money,” he said."

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... ickly.html

roger wyoming II wrote:^ I was tweeting last week that we need to get him a downtown retail space.

I agree. A space like LockerDome's would be perfect.

oh, good. i need some new Polo's for when i have to go out and kill sh*t with my bros and then meet father at the country club.



not my style but i'm happy to see a local company doing well. also not sure a Sansone qualifies as midwest "normal" given that they're one of the wealthiest families in St. Louis. whatever sells, i guess.

I also find irony in this juxtaposition.

^ ttricamo, did you watch the "our story" video on the website? it's pretty hilarious.

I think it's good to have a "cool" brand associated with St. Louis.

also, i don't think i saw a single black person anywhere on their website, including the videos.

And I thought he meant the driving range.

also, i don't think i saw a single black person anywhere on their website, including the videos.

Yeah, because all of the people in the videos and website are his family. You also don't see any other race yet you felt the need to specifically point out no black people. Try applauding success instead of instigating dumb tangents.

pat wrote:Yeah, because all of the people in the videos and website are his family. You also don't see any other race yet you felt the need to specifically point out no black people. Try applauding success instead of instigating dumb tangents.

actually there is one asian woman in the video–i guess she could be related through marriage or adoption. and i brought up black people because black people are "normal" when it comes to the midwest; that is, they're a significant component of the population. anyway, did you miss the part where i said i'm glad they're doing well? you're free to not respond to my "tangents" if you think they're so dumb, but i don't think it's very dumb to point out that their target demographic is extremely homogeneous. remember the Abercrombie and Fitch backlash?

Urban, let's root for the success of this brand, I'm about 100% sure the owner of this company is open to all races wearing their apparel. It would be incredible to have the St. Louis or Midwest version of vineyard vines or southern tide, etc. have you written letters to those companies regarding the racial component of their advertisements? A growing downtown local brand sounds great to me...

I think urban was just pointing out the irony of the commercial against the name of the brand.

Also, I shoot guns regularly. 9/1 opens Dove season, matter of fact.

jcity wrote:have you written letters to those companies regarding the racial component of their advertisements?

no, but i also haven't written any letters to Normal. look, as ttricamo said i'm just pointing out that it's ironic for a brand called "Normal" to advertise so narrowly. hopefully they'll expand their advertising to be more inclusive. if not, it's their loss.

urban_dilettante wrote:

jcity wrote:have you written letters to those companies regarding the racial component of their advertisements?

no, but i also haven't written any letters to Normal. look, as ttricamo said i'm just pointing out that it's ironic for a brand called "Normal" to advertise so narrowly. hopefully they'll expand their advertising to be more inclusive. if not, it's their loss.

I really don't understand people who say things like what you've been saying.

"Hey thanks for starting a business in the city! Heres 3 things I think you should definitely do differently because I just met you/just heard about you and have a ton of ideas on how you could do things my way"

I was involved in with a company that got an Arch Grant - got in conversations like this all the time. I'm just trying to build a company my way with my money and be successful and try not to go broke in the process. I really do not care or want to hear about how you would build a company, go do it yourself if my way bothers you so much.

Normal isn't about "normal society" just a basic/normal brand is how I took it. Everyone is so overly hyper about race today. Give it a rest. Is FUBU still around? Urban is rocking it I'm sure!

I agree with the above comments. Man you guys are critical.

mjbais1489 wrote:I was involved in with a company that got an Arch Grant - got in conversations like this all the time. I'm just trying to build a company my way with my money and be successful and try not to go broke in the process. I really do not care or want to hear about how you would build a company, go do it yourself if my way bothers you so much.

you can do whatever you like. rather than start my own company (since i already have a career) i probably just won't buy Normal brand clothing. i hope that you do, and that it's the most comfortable (and fashionable!) clothing you've ever worn. and i hope that the company makes billions.