Community Highlights: Meet Stephen Saunders of Pacific Coast Apparel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Saunders.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Yes. It was a very simple start. I was looking for a hat with the town name on it and no other branding. So I made one with a little hat press, and others also wanted them, and a small company was born! Things evolved from there and now it’s been eight years. The whole thing was a total accident!!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Business is not easy, but I would say we have been fairly lucky to this point. The pandemic, especially the first big shutdown was challenging for us, 90% of our business was wholesale to bricks and mortars, super scary at first, but we were able to make a big leap transitioning and attracting retail customers to our online store. We made it through 2020 and after that 2021 was our best year yet! There are still some supply side issues, but it finally seems like it is abating a bit.

As you know, we’re big fans of Pacific Coast Apparel. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a small boutique apparel brand. We specialize in casual, beach-lifestyle wear for men, woman, and kids. Our main logo and trademark is a bear on a surfboard, A.K.A. the Surfbear! We mainly design, make and sell hats, beanies, T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts. Soon shorts, surf trunks and golf polo’s. We are most proud of the love and response from customers and how much they enjoy our products. We still have a lot to learn and new products in the pipeline are on the way. Are goal is to produce simple, affordable and keyword, comfortable clothing for anyone.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I love most about our city is, well it’s the greatest city in the USA! All of it. The constant outdoor beach vibe, and of course the weather, the weather, the weather!!. Awesome water life living. You can surf or golf and drive a couple few hours north and be skiing the same day! Lots of great music always in the vicinity. Plenty of places to eat, drink and be merry! Yep. A few of my least favorites about our city, and I will keep the list short. Too many people, too much traffic, and waaaay too expensive!!

Contact Info:

• Email: info@pacificcoastapparel.com
• Website: pacificcoastapparel.com
• Instagram: pacificcoastapparel

Image Credits:
Photos: In house photography