by Bill Crossman, posted 28 January 2012
Climb the stairs for a shopping excursion for that one item that screams (or whispers) ‘Fashion Forward,’ ‘Reduce-Reuse-Recycle,’ and sprinkled the experience with a layer of ambient music that has a vibe like an unobtrusive accompaniment.
Welcome To The Home Of Atlas
Opened in late December 2012, Atlas Clothing is spun-off from Jamie Hoffman’s successful Fremont Vintage Mall, which has grown 35% in sales each year.
Atlas’ principal, Jamie Hoffman, aged 40, has an evolutionary vision for the 2nd floor of the I.O.O.F. building. “There’s a responsibility or stewardship to doing business in this space,” Hoffman said. He ticked off his vision statement from memory, “To create a retail space and environment that buys and sells the best quality, most affordable vintage/used fashions and helps foster local designers and artists in music, film, fashion. Artists connected with commercial and non-profit enterprises.”
A key personnel on the Atlas Clothing management team is manager, Crystel Davis, age 30. In her off time she studies Graphic Design at Seattle Central Community College. Davis cites her apparel management experience at the retailer Anthropologie, and set as her goal – to make Atlas the ‘Best Vintage Store’ in Seattle.
Vintage clothing today represents iconoclastic fashion. Fashion is fickle. This Fremo-istic market niche appeals to independents, do-it-yourself-ers, and artistic types among us that increasingly see the value of recycling, reusing earth’s resources and reducing our carbon footprint.
Billy Helton, age 32, is the store buyer. His network of sellers and suppliers is personal, be they in the neighborhood or extending out to the region and international markets.
Product acquisition is integral to Atlas’ operation. The goal, according to Helton, is to offer a, “selection of fashion merchandise that fits customer needs, aspirations and independent spirit.”
If These Walls Could Speak
At 3609 Fremont Ave N., first there was in 1891 of wood, and then in 1927 of brick, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge, better known as the I.O.O.F. Building. The fraternal organization aimed to provide personal and social development, with activities aimed to improve and elevate every person to a higher, nobler plane. Odd Fellows sought and seek(if any of them are left among us) to extend sympathy and aid to those in need, make their burdens lighter, relieve the darkness of despair, and war against vice in every form, as a great moral power and influence for the good of humanity.
In 2013, it seems a brave mission to identify as an ‘Odd Fellow.’
From 1993-2005, The Empty Space Theatre called the space Atlas Clothing now occupies, home. The Empty Space had a commitment to Seattle artists, and provided a platform for bold, provocative, and celebratory new works. There’s a zen to thinking of a space as ‘Empty.’
Big Vision & Big Ambition
Hoffman and his management team of Davis and Helton hope customers can find Atlas, and its collection of vintage/retro apparel. Customers can seek out the new location above Bliss, next door to Frame Up Studios and PIE, with the old Auditorium Cleaners sign hung in the alley near its ornate arched Renaissance Revival front door.
In the auditorium space of the shop, Hoffman plans to create experiences:
- performances
- fashion shows
- live bands, orchestras, DJ’s
- film, interactive video and live television feeds
- personal, commercial, or non-profit events, to be catered by Fremont partner businesses
And, of course, sell or buy a favorite outfit, memento, piece of art, craft or vintage household item.
Practices, Strategies and Methods for Operation
Atlas is promoted by non-traditional and modern means, with a fully interactive website, Facebook page and Twitter feed. The company has also cultivated a strong network of sellers of soft and hard goods.
Hoffman has experience beyond his years, in corporate management, having left CINTAS Uniform & Apparel at age 30. He got his start with the Marketing Education/DECA program at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, WA then, a business administration degree at Western Washington University.
Now at age 40, his top priorities are raising his two school age children, making decisions for his businesses based on performance indicators, and empowering his people. Using data, Jamie negotiates with his managers to set the enterprise’s targets and incentives. His employee’s bonuses depend on performance.
Atlas Clothing creates a value-added marketing and shopping experience that is not your parent’s thrift store. Like Atlas the Titan, Atlas Clothing has some heavy lifting to do. We’ll see how Fremont’s Atlas does shouldering the twin legacies of Atlas the Titan and stewardship of the I.O.O.F. building stewardship. Signs and evidence project that they’ll manage the heavy lifting needed.
Related Articles
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- by Bill Crossman, July 27, 2012
- Meet The Oddfellows Hall, a.k.a. the I.O.O.F. Building
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- Fremont Enters New Retail Era: Longtime Storefronts Close; New Ones To Open Soon In Their Place
- by Kirby Lindsay, February 8, 2008 in the North Seattle Herald-Outlook
©2013 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.