Сын основателя открыл второй магазин рабочей одежды Acme в Петалюме

Acme Workwear is not a new business. Bill Litchfield, who started as a salesman in the sporting goods industry, opened the original San Francisco location in 1972 in the Excelsior district of the city. Now in his mid-80s, Bill still goes to work several days a week. Fast-forward half a century and son Chris decided to join the family business. Chris had been living in New York, working a travel-heavy sales job that kept him from spending quality time with his family. He had grown up at Acme and worked in the San Francisco store during the summers of his youth. When he was in high school, Chris Litchfield remembers his dad carrying the original Air Jordan shoe from Nike, an enduring memory from adolescence. “I love seeing progress, seeing something through from soup to nuts,” he said. Litchfield returned to the Bay Area with the desire to learn all aspects of the business, with a dream of opening a second store. One year ago, Chris opened Acme’s second location. “We chose Petaluma because there is no store like this between San Francisco and Santa Rosa,” he said. “It’s a growing city and a good halfway point.” Litchfield feels like both employees and customers here are “salt of the earth” people who want to support small business. He lives in Marin, and runs the Petaluma store, but still travels back and forth a bit between both locations. As for where to place the store, after looking for the better part of a year, Litchfield decided on a space next to Trader Joe’s. He loved the layout and the central location, but the project was ambitious at 6,400 square feet, compared to the footprint of 4,500 square feet in San Francisco. “We wanted a bigger space to carry more,” he said. Acme serves workers in a variety of industries — plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters, landscapers and many others. The store carries tried and true work wear and gear, from a good pair of socks that will keep you protected in safety toe boots, to quality double knee pants to protect your joints. It’s workwear that meets the technical specifications of your job and accommodates your cell phone or tools in a pocket positioned in just the right spot. “We provide work clothing and work gear for tradesmen that are building our future,” Litchfield said. The store carries 40 brands in all, and inventory includes jackets and outerwear, overalls, tool bags and belts, water-resistant sweatshirts, rain gear, flame resistant workwear for electricians and a wall of boots. Veteran brands like Carhartt, Wrangler and Ben Davis share real estate with companies like Dovetail, a women’s wear line to serve the demand of the growing female workforce. Chris explained that he lets the customers dictate where the product holes are and tries to fill them. The first weekend they were open, his staff got a dozen requests for scrubs, which they had never carried before. Now there is an entire section devoted to medical garments. “It’s amazing how much our customers know about our products,” Litchfield said, adding that some customers actually ask for items by product number. Litchfield’s customers come primarily from Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Novato and Sonoma. One challenge has been finding the right marketing mix. Chris calls himself a modern marketer (he used to sell digital advertising solutions) and shares a famous quote. “I know that 50% of my advertising dollars aren’t working, I just don’t know which 50%.” It is clear Acme has prioritized assimilating into the local community. The store pays homage to Petaluma with iconic imagery from the city, hats embossed with names of neighboring towns, and photos of people at work in all the industries they support. It’s both visually appealing and strongly rooted in place. “We have nine Google reviews now for this store, all five stars,” Litchfield said proudly, noting that service is a core ethic of the business, where employees go through extensive training so they can speak the language of their customers. “What we carry are necessities,” he said, “things people need for their job. It’s as much about protection as fashion.” Carin Jacobs is a writer and curator interested in what constitutes our definition of home and our sense of place. She is the founder of Place Matters and former director of Petaluma Arts Center and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of Sonoma State University. All the Details Business name: Acme WorkwearOwner: Chris LitchfieldHours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. SundayAddress: 171 N. McDowell Blvd. (next to Trader Joe’s)Phone: 707-320-9722Website: [email protected]