Popular European rugged clothing and equipment manufacturer Engelbert Strauss has opened up its first retail outlet in the USA on Main Street. And while you’d be forgiven for first thinking that sounds a bit niche, just read on.
Not only does the new store sport an impressively stylish interior with an effective industrial-themed decor, but inside you’ll find all manner of items that a) you didn’t know that you needed and b) you didn’t know where you’d be able to buy them once you realized that you do in fact need them.
"While the associations of this area are beneficial in many ways, it’s also a really cool place that I’ve been coming to for many years," said Henning Strauss, CEO of Engelbert Strauss. "Not only is this the film and television capital of the world where our rugged clothing and workwear is perfectly suited to production crews, but we also just fell in love with this building," he laughs, adding, "It gave us the opportunity to present ourselves in a boutique way, in a small space as part of the early and initial phase of our expansion into a bigger market."
Strauss himself has more than a passing connection to this particular part of the world, first attending Redlands High School and later Pepperdine University.
The company has its origins in a municipality called Biebergemünd, more or less in the middle of Germany back in the early 1900s. Following the second World War, the company diversified the product range to include work protection clothing. The brand is the largest workwear brand in Europe and has outlets in 29 countries, now including the USA.
Inside the store are shirts, shorts, shoes, gloves, trousers, t-shirts, tool belts and just about everything you can imagine that would fit the description of workwear, safetywear and personal protective equipment. You can even design your own tool bags. Moreover, you could wear much of this on the slopes, either skiing or boarding at places like Big Bear, Mammoth or Tahoe.
"Unlike many of the fashion spin-offs that you see now on the market, we decided as a brand to stick to our core DNA and maintain the quality workmanship and functionality," Strauss said.
Considering how much construction is constantly taking place around not only Santa Monica, but Los Angeles in general, there will never be a shortage of interested customers. Strauss jokes that when people buy houses here, they don’t paint the walls and move in, they knock down the existing structure and build a brand new one. Then the next buyer does the same and so on.
"I very much look at the US as a unique market, like the North American approach in general to work is similar yet different. Plus there are different tastes when it comes to color palettes and different usability needs and requirements," Strauss says.
Everything that’s available in the store is also available online, but of course nothing beats actually trying clothes on before you throw away a ton of money on return postage. And perhaps most importantly, when you glance at the price tag, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised as this range does not cost as much as you probably think it will. The store is at 1320 Main St, Venice and is open now.
