Retro Image Apparel moved its Cycling Jerseys operation this winter from Chicago to Portland's inner Southeast industrial area.The company's trademark is vintage art, from sophisticated cycling posters to Betty Boop. But the recent relocation already inspired a spinoff venture: microbrew jerseys. Company founder Roger Mallette sees a common denominator.
"These jerseys allow people to illustrate what they think is cool," he says. "It's wearable art."
Seven years ago, Mallette worked as an inter-generational learning coordinator at a Seattle school. Entranced by a book about the legendary Bauhaus design school in Germany, he decided to start making T-shirts. His company launched with $250 in capital and a bedroom for an office.
Before long, Mallette went full-time with his new venture and switched his focus to cycling jerseys.
Early successes piled up. Mallette got rights to use images from the famed Horton Collection of cycling memorabilia. REI started selling his gear, and Bicycling magazine featured the company.
Mallette began to aggressively pursue licensing agreements, guided by his artistic tastes -- and, sometimes, his whims. When he moved to Chicago in 2006 to be closer to Midwestern relatives, he noticed a billboard for Black Cat Fireworks during the cross-country drive. Soon that art, too, graced Retro Image Apparel jerseys.
In Chicago, Mallette developed a Cat in the Hat bicycle safety program for children. And he reached a record $560,000 in gross sales in 2007.
But Mallette missed the West Coast, and when he considered a move, Portland came to mind. During his years in Seattle, he'd often head south to spend a day reading in the coffee shop at Powell's City of Books.
Portland also offered another perk. "This is the epicenter of cycling," Mallette says.
He arrived in December and set up shop in a 4,000-square-foot space near the eastern foot of the Hawthorne Bridge, which he shares with bicyclinghub.com. The office is less than a mile's commute (by bicycle, of course) from his home in Southeast Portland, and has room for a retail store if he decides to pursue the idea.
For now, distributors sell Retro Image Apparel worldwide. But customers can also buy directly at www.retroimageapparel.com -- about $80 for a men's jersey, $75 for a women's jersey. And, as it turns out, Mallette already had fans in Portland.
Waterfront Bicycles, for example, started carrying Retro Image Apparel a few years ago.
"I got tired of the selection everywhere being the standard, dayglow-yellow, boring stuff," says Eric Roden, manager of the downtown shop. "The fact that these were based on vintage art pieces really appealed to me. With Portland being such an artistic town, it made a lot of sense."
Meeting the owner this winter was a bonus, Roden says. Since moving to town, Mallette stopped in to have his bike worked on and talk shop with the Waterfront Bicycles crew.
Mallette recently signed off on a deal to make jerseys from vintage covers of The New Yorker, and started a sister company: Micro Beer Jerseys. Mallette got the idea at a Christmas party, where he noticed a striking tap handle for Coney Island Lager. The line will officially launch this spring with jerseys for several brewers, including Portland's Lucky Labrador Brewing Co.
Gary Geist, co-owner of the Lucky Lab, has rejected proposals to license the company's art for dog collars, biscuits and other merchandise.But he was impressed by Mallette's pitch, and he liked the idea of gaining exposure in Cycling shops outside Oregon. Plus, he expects the Retro Jerseys to sell well locally (they're already available at Lucky Lab pubs).
"It's a merging of two very Portland things," Geist says. "Portland's a very bike-friendly city. And it's the microbrew capital of the world."
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