Oi! Oi! Oi! Its our 5th Birthday today.
G’day Mates
Its our 5th Birthday today and we are very Proud.
The last year has been a roller coaster ride for all of us – the highs, the lows and now that dizzy feeling as you climb off the ride and decide whether it was worth it? Will you have another go?
That was where we were 5 years ago – Lets have a Go!!
Let’s see if there are other Blokes out there looking for comfortable clothes that actually fit them. Clothes that represent Quality, Value and Fit for Real Blokes from Small to 10XL+. Decent Gear at a Decent Price that Actually Fit.
We searched for those clothes and we searched for the Blokes that wanted to wear them.
We found ‘em.
We started with a Market stall and then a small shop. We got a little website made.
Now……. We have a very successful store that operates in Gladstone, Central Queensland – Bloke Central! Locals have really supported us, and we have tried everyday to find the gear they asked for. We worked hard and we had some great staff to support our efforts. Now with over 120m2 full of great clothes that Real Blokes want every day we look ahead to where our next stores need to be to help more Blokes into the gear they really want. Not overpriced specialty store clothes that have the right label but do not actually fit most – think shirts with arms too skinny to be comfortable or shorts not big enough to work with those thighs that you picked up from years of playing footy. This is a safe space for you and your Keg – with a real choice.
Now …….Our website competes with the best of them. Lockdowns gave a lot of Blokes and the people who shop for them – the time to find us and get some clothes that helped them through a pretty rough time – we sold thousands of Flannos and Trakkies. It was hectic and supply chains were completely disrupted and delivery services were overwhelmed. Unfortunately, we were not always able to offer our best service but for most it was OK because we were All in This Together and we spoke with lots of Aussies who were just trying to make the best of the situation. We spoke to some very lonely people and hopefully helped there too – its not just about selling lots of clothes for us. The last few months have seen our website sales explode and lots of repeat customers. Now we are sending gear to NZ too and love helping our Kiwi Mates. We have thousands of items to choose from on our website and many more to come.
We decided very early on that our business would be Independent – no Amazon or eBay and the other players. We do not listen to every expert who thinks they know our business and wants to tell us how we are doing it wrong because we know that the way we do it works.
Our store in Gladstone is a Men’s shop – not all that pretty but very practical and the sort of place a Bloke feels comfortable – we like to think of it as a Man Cave.
Our website is the same – no big pretty pictures and amazing flashy offers.
We decided from the beginning to work with lean and honest pricing – every day a good price. You will never find us offering 70% off or some other offer that shows that prior to this special price you were being ripped off. We don’t have time to be sending you emails about some made up special on items that are only available in one small size. Anyway, who reads marketing emails these days? Over it!
Our site is meant to be simply and easy – find what you want, pay for it, and get on with your day – a supermarket style rather than some flashy, all dancing photo fest where its too hard to find what you want – most of our customers are in and out in just a couple of minutes. No pop ups. No first order discount. No begging for your business. Decent Gear at a Decent Price that actually Fits is what we proudly offer.
So where to from here?
The last year has really shown us how much Aussies want Australian Made and in 2021 we can finally see a path to making more of our own clothes. Weekenders Shorts are selling like hot cakes and our Workers are starting to gain a following. This year we will be manufacturing more lines built on the comfort and easy fit of Weekenders – think Long Weekenders in Winter, Weekends at the Beach by next summer, Short Weekenders for those who look for a shorter style short. Cargos and Denim Shorts are on the list too. We plan a range of Undies that work for Real Blokes up to 10XL. We have plans for Shirts that really are easy to wear and look good too – not just keep you covered. We are planning to open more shops but it’s a hard one to decide on and an expensive exercise, so we want to make sure we do it right. Let us know if you think your town should be next?
We will continue to sell other suppliers’ offerings with our continued insistence on Ethical Supply Chains and a preference for Aussie Owned companies. This creates lots of Aussie jobs from warehouse operators to admin assistants to the local postal and courier people that move all this stuff around and many more indirect jobs created. Our business now employs 7 people – this makes us very proud. We hope by this time next year there will be quite a few more.
So, this is us 5 years into Having a Go!
We have a strong and profitable business both instore and online. We have grown incredibly over the last year especially and are amazed and very thankful for the support we receive for our little independent Proudly Aussie Owned business. We plan to be making clothes in Australia and more jobs for Aussies. We plan to open a few more stores but not sure where yet.
