Six New England brands want to help you "prep" for summer.
A preppy pop-up shop will be opening its Newbury Street doors on Friday, April 18, giving customers the opportunity to interact with the Boston-bred owners of Category 5 Boat Shoes, Beacon & Brewster, Cape Cod Shoe Supply, Harding-Lane, York Design Company and Dock & Harbor.
"For us specifically, it's all about being able to communicate with our customers firsthand," said Category 5 CEO Jason Shuman.
Although Category 5 products are now being sold in stores on Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, the majority of the company's business is done online. The closest store shelving shoes from the brand is E.A. Davis in Wellesley, meaning this pop-up will give the startup easier access to its 18- to 34-year-old customers, who predominantly live in Boston.
Category 5 currently sells nine models of men's boat shoes and three of women's, as well as bracelets and seersucker-pocketed tank tops. "It doesn't make sense to go out and make a store of our own," explained Shuman. "There's not enough product to fill it."
Not now, at least. Shuman said they recently hired a former designer from Sperry Top-Sider to help create shoes for 2015. They also stacked their newly-formed advisory board with former executives from Clarks and Stride Rite.
The brand, formerly focused on customization, is set out to become more of a mindset. "Simply put, we're aiming to become the casual version of Alex and Ani for the millennial male," Shuman said, "a brand they can truly relate to that there's meaning around."
The five other brands participating in the upcoming pop-up appear to share similar logic, as well as a predominantly online audience.
"A lot of us do a lot of business online," Shuman added. "For the most part, we're in speciality men's and women's retailers, and a lot of the shopping done in the Northeast is in malls and department stores."
From Friday to Monday, April 28, however, that shopping will hopefully be done at 301 Newbury Street. The store will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and then at varying times after hours for exclusive groups. Prices will range from $10 to $140. On Friday, college students can receive 10 percent off any purchase, though, with a valid school ID.
As an added bonus, during the Boston Marathon weekend, 10 percent of sales will go toward The One Fund.
"We all have the same goals in mind," Shuman said, "which are getting the word out there and experiencing this whole retail side."
If you go: 301 Newbury Street, Boston; April 18 to April 28; Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
