After reading retail and brand specialist Bertrand Pellegrin’s (pictured right) new book Branding the Man: Why Men are the Next Frontier in Frashion Retail, SF Gate men’s fashion writer Aaron Britt went out with the man himeself to find San Francisco best men’s shopping environment. Their favorite: Mollusk Surf Shop at 4500 Irving St.
The large, open space felt immediately authentic, charmingly quirky and instantly right. The breadth of merchandise, sunny, smart and ineffably Californian aesthetic made you want to flop down on one of the couches to peruse a book of photographs or sneak into one of the hidden gallery spaces to check out the preponderance of art displayed. Owner John McCambridge did much of the design himself, and the homespun, design-school-meets-driftwood-collector vibe is altogether enchanting. . . Pellegrin called it one of the best new retail environments he’d seen in the Bay Area in years. “For a fraction of the cost most retailers spend on interior design,” he said, “Mollusk not only communicates its story but offers an environment that somehow doesn’t even feel like a store. It’s a state of mind. . . “I went back and a surfer walked in with his board, barefoot, wet and sandy and no one batted an eye. Now that’s authentic.”
Guess as a retailer you can’t really get a better review that this. Then again, if someone like Bertrand Pellegrin like’s your shop you have to wonder a little, don’t you?
[Link: SF Gate]
The guys at Mollusk know so much more about retail than many major retailers. This store is a great example of a well run store that feels totally real — not some overly strategic effort to get people to shop.
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