HOW THE BEST MEN'S UNDERWEAR BRAND WAS REBORN
Our morning walk with our highly energetic Kelpie X for the past 2 weeks has been from Mudjimba Beach to Marcoola Beach (on the Sunshine Coast Queensland ). We always stop and check out the surf, the view out to the island is really cool.
While we were enjoying the view this morning, there was a guy with two kids just chilling, checking out the waves as well. I heard him talking to his kids and recognised the accent. I asked him where he was from anyway and he confirmed New York. We got talking about the Sunshine Coast and how relaxed the lifestyle is here. He then asked us whether we were on holidays? He was up for a chat, so I gave him the long version of what we were doing.
I quit my corporate retail job about 7 years ago (for health reasons, mainly caused by stress). For no other reason than to try something completely the opposite to what I was used to, I decided to mow lawns for a living. In that time I built up a reasonable business of loyal customers that appreciated my punctuality, politeness and professionalism. It must have been the 22 years of retail military school that helped those qualities to become automatic. Most importantly over that same period, I registered/trademarked a second business in the name of “Reer Endz”.
‘’Reer Endz” became a side hustle for my wife and I. My wife was still in the corporate world working some crazy hours on top of crazier commute times, coming home mentally exhausted most nights, I shared her exhaustion, though my exhaustion was physical. We still devoted as much time as we could to launching our brand “Reer Endz”. The brand started as a small, fashion-conscious range of Men’s Underwear. Put simply, through our very experienced design/retail buying backgrounds we designed the range, found a factory in China to manufacture the goods & had some help from a former friend & retail colleague to do the quality assurance testing. With little help, we developed our 1st website. To enhance Reer Endz’s exposure we travelled around Sydney on weekends to sell our product in markets. They were hit and miss, but we persisted, just to try and increase our presence and get our name out there. We received a lot of positive feedback from customers about our 1st range. They loved the name, the colours in our range, our cheeky prints, but most of all they loved our Point of Difference - our comfort and quality.
Just over 18 months ago my wife & I tossed up the idea of giving this business a real go, full-time commitment from both of us. The idea encompassed selling up in Sydney, buying a caravan and dragging our “Reer Endz” literally, around Australia. The plan was to continue to grow our online business, as well as expanding the business into “resellers” right across the country. And hey, at the same time let’s do some exploring of this wonderful country and turn it into a fascinating journey.
Some advice and encouragement from a good friend convinced us that we should turn the idea into reality.
There were plenty of people who thought we were crazy (and still do), but here we are, the day before officially re-launching Reer Endz underwear. Our new range now typifies our new lifestyle. It brings together a culture of outdoor living, open roads, coastal cities, laid back country towns and travelling.
Anyway, I traded some details with my New York mate. He told me he was both intrigued and inspired by our decisions and our business. In fact, he mentioned he was second-guessing returning to the ‘big apple’.
I am sure you will all love our “Coast meets Street range”, we still have our staple plain colours, combined with some new fun colours, and of course, it wouldn’t be a Reer Endz underwear range without some cheeky prints included.
Until next time
