Petaluma cycling apparel company riding mountain of enthusiasm

Petaluma cycling apparel company riding mountain of enthusiasm - Petaluma Argus Courier

Posted: 11 Aug 2019 12:04 AM PDT

For the first 10 minutes David Billstrom is riding his bike, he feels like a 9-year-old kid again.

The CEO of Kitsbow, a premium mountain bike apparel company based in Petaluma, described the sensation as a flow state cyclists reach once they've surrendered to the moment and every other care has subsided.

It's a type of euphoria that can only be reached in a few endeavors, and Billstrom said allowing their customers to reach that point where concerns about clothing comfort disappear is precisely how Kitsbow defines a victory.

"It's just this freedom," he said. "There's this speed — you're going faster than walking. You're rolling, the wind's in your face. That has nothing to do with technical ability or fitness. That's just the experience of riding a bike.

"It's pretty universal. We believe it's universal. So we're going to worry about the details and also try to make it all disappear."

Over the past seven years, Kitsbow has charted an innovative path, redefining what's possible in a sector of the cycling apparel industry where no other company had been successful.

Founded by Zander Nosler out of his Occidental home in 2012, Kitsbow has seen annual revenue growth of 50% like clockwork, Billstrom said, credited in part to the region's sizable market of bike riders willing to invest in premium garb that costs hundreds of dollars per item.

The company has stationed its headquarters and domestic production facility in Petaluma for the last four years, now boasting over 30 employees.

"Petaluma, the region — Marin County and Sonoma County — a lot of the early customers live right here because they ride their mountain bikes once or twice or three times a week right here," said Billstrom, who was an early investor and has been on the board of directors since the start. "In that sense, it's been a great place to launch from."

Kitsbow is a direct-to-consumer brand that sells all of its merchandise online, offering an array of clothing that caters to every aspect of the mountain biker lifestyle — from performance garments to jackets and shirts that break the mold for traditional cycling wear.

The most popular piece is a $220 flannel shirt created with world-renowned Pendleton wool from Portland, which Billstrom said accounts for a third of the company's sales.

Many customers have commented that it's too nice to wear when thrashing through the mountain brush on a bike, but it's built for it, he said, featuring the specialized shoulder and elbow padding found on several of Kitsbow's products.

"There was this need for bike clothes that just didn't exist," said store manager Storm Glover, a longtime Petaluma resident. "Everyone was riding their bikes in spandex. Even myself when I started, I was like, 'Aw man, if I want to ride my bike I have to wear that?'"

Like a tech company, Kitsbow takes an aggressive approach to innovation. Its most popular shorts, for example, are in its fifth iteration.

"We never let anything just lie," Billstrom said. "As we find things that need to be improved, we improve them. We refer to that as 'obsessive,' and we refer to the people who wear our clothes as 'the obsessives.' It's an obsessive approach to the functional design while making sure it's classy enough to wear anywhere."

Check out Nike's 'SpongeBob Squarepants' collection — available August 10 - Business Insider

Posted: 10 Aug 2019 07:01 AM PDT

If you don't know who SpongeBob Squarepants is, you've probably been living under a rock for the past 20 years — and I'm not talking about Patrick Star's house. As one of the most popular cartoons in history, "SpongeBob Squarepants" has an immense fanbase, and star NBA champion Kyrie Irving is among them.

To celebrate his love for the porous and yellow sponge, Nike teamed up with him and Nickelodeon to release a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed collection of sneakers, apparel, and accessories.

Nike

The sneaker collection includes SpongeBob Squarepants, Patrick Star, and Squidward Tentacles Nike Kyrie 5s and Sandy Cheeks and Mr. Krabs Nike Kyrie 2 Lows. Both the SpongeBob and Patrick-themed sneakers will be available in all sizes from men's to women's to toddlers, while the rest of the sneakers are only available in men's sizes (though some small enough to overlap with women's sizing).

Nike

Additionally, the collection includes hoodies, T-shirts, kids' backpacks, and even crew socks that are identical to SpongeBob's blue and red striped pair.

The sneaker collection is set to launch on Saturday, August 10 at 10 a.m. ET and some of the apparel is available now. Whether you're going for sneakers, apparel, or both, you'll want to shop as soon as possible because everything is likely to sell out.