Kuiu Q&A: Former NFL player finds retail success in pursuing passion
An ex-player NFL player has built two businesses from scratch — both focused on his lifelong passion.
Kuiu is the brainchild of Jason Hairston, former linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. Dedicated to high-performance, ultralight clothing and gear for mountain hunters (the offerings are also popular with more traditional hunters and outdoor enthusiasts), the brand is named after one of Hairston’s favorite spots, an island in Alaska.
Hairston launched Kuiu in 2011, and it’s been on an upward trajectory ever since. It’s his first foray into selling direct to consumers, but not his first brand success. He found his way into business in the early 2000s, after chronic injuries from a broken neck ended his professional football career and forced him to start anew. He worked in commercial real estate for a time, but found himself unfulfilled. Inspired to start a business based on doing what he loved, Hairston took refuge in one of his passions: mountain hunting. Unhappy with the quality of the available apparel and gear, Hairston took matters into his own hands. In 2006, he founded Sitka, a high-performance (and pricey) technical brand for mountain hunters.
“I zeroed in on ‘experience’ apparel and began building a new business,” he told Chain Store Age.
The line proved a hit, and specialty outdoors retailers nationwide began selling Sitka products. In 2009, Hairston sold the brand to W.L. Gore & Associates, best known for its Gore-Tex fabric, “and I was unemployed again,” he quipped.
Armed with a higher level of industry and product knowledge, Hairston founded Kuiu. But he did things differently this time, employing a direct-to-consumer digital retail strategy and offering full transparency. By cutting out the middleman, Hairston avoids retail markups that can make Kuiu’s pricey offerings even pricier. He also gets easy access to customer data that he would otherwise not have if the goods were sold by other retailers.
Hairston talked more about the brand with Chain Store Age.
CSA: How did you first spread the word about Kuiu?
Hairston: About 90 days before we launched, I decided to “pull back the curtain” on the brand. I created a product design blog to show followers how the product was made, its functionality and potential merchandise pricing. It attracted several hundred views and many comments.
Our transparency paid off because the day we launched we hit $500,000 in sales, and hit just under $2 million our first year in business. Since then, we have hit 52% growth year-over-year.
I believe that this type of transparency is the future of retail. Companies that just markup merchandise, run out of product without explanation, or just don’t openly interact with shoppers contribute to why the traditional retail model is “broken.”
CSA: To maintain this level of “transparency,” you rely on customer feedback. Can you explain how you leverage this information?
Hairston: I call myself a student of customer connections, and social media is a great educational platform. Since day one, we integrated the power of social media, including live weekly Q&A sessions on Facebook. Here, we cover all aspects of our lines, the materials used in our merchandise, and how product is produced. This has since evolved to photos and live feeds posted on our web site and social media channels, including YouTube.
We also use data analytics to break down customer information and feedback. We apply this data to demand, as well as our planning of colors and sizes across specific product lines. It is not easy for an apparel retailer to know how much merchandise it will sell next year. Armed with analytics, we can be more predictive, and change our marketing and production spend, as needed.
CSA: What are your thoughts about opening physical stores?
Hairston: We want to build more brand awareness, but we’re not ready to invest millions of dollars into one location. Instead, to explore the market — and create momentum in the physical marketplace — we embarked on a 26-city cross-country tour that used an 18-wheel truck as a mobile showroom. This gave us a 900 sq.-ft. “pop-up” store that we would operate for three days in each city we visited.
We analyzed customer data to determine which stop would be next, and then digitally marketed our arrival and offering to that customer segment. We carried a limited assortment of 400 SKUs for shoppers to try out — about a third of our entire 1,200 SKU product line.
CSA: How did the tour go?
Hairston: At each stop on the tour, which ended in November, we serviced between 1,000 and 1,500 customers. Overall, we generated an estimated $3.3 million in revenue — this was between 75% - 80% greater than what was anticipated. The average order was $323, which was about $75 more than our average online order.
It was also a great way to get a head start on our holiday season. Instead of offering site-wide discounts like last year, during the 2017 Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, Kuiu focused on highlighting select products. Our average cart size was also slightly up this year, since we sold more full-price items.
Overall, between our transparency strategy, as well as getting our products in front of our consumers, we are building trust among our customer base. We expect this to translate into long-term loyalty for the brand.
Kuiu is the brainchild of Jason Hairston, former linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. Dedicated to high-performance, ultralight clothing and gear for mountain hunters (the offerings are also popular with more traditional hunters and outdoor enthusiasts), the brand is named after one of Hairston’s favorite spots, an island in Alaska.
Hairston launched Kuiu in 2011, and it’s been on an upward trajectory ever since. It’s his first foray into selling direct to consumers, but not his first brand success. He found his way into business in the early 2000s, after chronic injuries from a broken neck ended his professional football career and forced him to start anew. He worked in commercial real estate for a time, but found himself unfulfilled. Inspired to start a business based on doing what he loved, Hairston took refuge in one of his passions: mountain hunting. Unhappy with the quality of the available apparel and gear, Hairston took matters into his own hands. In 2006, he founded Sitka, a high-performance (and pricey) technical brand for mountain hunters.
“I zeroed in on ‘experience’ apparel and began building a new business,” he told Chain Store Age.
The line proved a hit, and specialty outdoors retailers nationwide began selling Sitka products. In 2009, Hairston sold the brand to W.L. Gore & Associates, best known for its Gore-Tex fabric, “and I was unemployed again,” he quipped.
Armed with a higher level of industry and product knowledge, Hairston founded Kuiu. But he did things differently this time, employing a direct-to-consumer digital retail strategy and offering full transparency. By cutting out the middleman, Hairston avoids retail markups that can make Kuiu’s pricey offerings even pricier. He also gets easy access to customer data that he would otherwise not have if the goods were sold by other retailers.
Hairston talked more about the brand with Chain Store Age.
CSA: How did you first spread the word about Kuiu?
Hairston: About 90 days before we launched, I decided to “pull back the curtain” on the brand. I created a product design blog to show followers how the product was made, its functionality and potential merchandise pricing. It attracted several hundred views and many comments.
Our transparency paid off because the day we launched we hit $500,000 in sales, and hit just under $2 million our first year in business. Since then, we have hit 52% growth year-over-year.
I believe that this type of transparency is the future of retail. Companies that just markup merchandise, run out of product without explanation, or just don’t openly interact with shoppers contribute to why the traditional retail model is “broken.”
CSA: To maintain this level of “transparency,” you rely on customer feedback. Can you explain how you leverage this information?
Hairston: I call myself a student of customer connections, and social media is a great educational platform. Since day one, we integrated the power of social media, including live weekly Q&A sessions on Facebook. Here, we cover all aspects of our lines, the materials used in our merchandise, and how product is produced. This has since evolved to photos and live feeds posted on our web site and social media channels, including YouTube.
We also use data analytics to break down customer information and feedback. We apply this data to demand, as well as our planning of colors and sizes across specific product lines. It is not easy for an apparel retailer to know how much merchandise it will sell next year. Armed with analytics, we can be more predictive, and change our marketing and production spend, as needed.
CSA: What are your thoughts about opening physical stores?
Hairston: We want to build more brand awareness, but we’re not ready to invest millions of dollars into one location. Instead, to explore the market — and create momentum in the physical marketplace — we embarked on a 26-city cross-country tour that used an 18-wheel truck as a mobile showroom. This gave us a 900 sq.-ft. “pop-up” store that we would operate for three days in each city we visited.
We analyzed customer data to determine which stop would be next, and then digitally marketed our arrival and offering to that customer segment. We carried a limited assortment of 400 SKUs for shoppers to try out — about a third of our entire 1,200 SKU product line.
CSA: How did the tour go?
Hairston: At each stop on the tour, which ended in November, we serviced between 1,000 and 1,500 customers. Overall, we generated an estimated $3.3 million in revenue — this was between 75% - 80% greater than what was anticipated. The average order was $323, which was about $75 more than our average online order.
It was also a great way to get a head start on our holiday season. Instead of offering site-wide discounts like last year, during the 2017 Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, Kuiu focused on highlighting select products. Our average cart size was also slightly up this year, since we sold more full-price items.
Overall, between our transparency strategy, as well as getting our products in front of our consumers, we are building trust among our customer base. We expect this to translate into long-term loyalty for the brand.