California casual clothing chain Marine Layer is trying its hand at selling through pop-ups for the holidays on both coasts. The approach could provide a peek at a Christmas future for American shoppers.
At boutiques in San Francisco — the retailer's home base — and downtown Manhattan, customers can decorate what they tout as their “absurdly soft” Marine Layer cashmere hoodies and fleece sweatpants with custom patches, embroidery and chain-stitching.
The pop-ups are in line with retailers’ efforts to use experience-based shopping concepts to connect with customers and boost brand awareness. Chief Executive Officer Michael Natenshon said the customization pop-ups aim to deliver “a hands-on, in-person experience where people can get creative, connect with the brand, and walk away with something that feels truly theirs.”
With a number of traditional retail chains downsizing formats and closing stores during the past decade, property owners across the nation are now counting on non-shopping, experience-focused tenants to fill space and increase customer traffic. Retailers are also focusing on ways to boost foot traffic amid high inflation, tariffs and the ongoing government shutdown — and temporary stores may be more in the mix.
Both Marine Layer pop-up locations debuted late last month in spaces that seek to reflect their respective cities and will run through mid-January. Custom Club in San Francisco’s upscale Fillmore District is operating out of a 2,100 square foot storefront at 2225 Fillmore St. that was formerly home to Cielo, an upscale boutique. It’s located on a stretch with other high-end, understated clothing retailers such as Eileen Fisher, Athleta and Rothy’s.
The shop features a six-foot decorative spool of thread in the display window and a back wall upholstered in the same signature “Cloud 9” fleece Marine Layer uses to make its half-zips and sweatpants.
'Hands on' holiday experience
The New York outlet, The Patch Bar in Nolita, is aiming at a similar well-heeled demographic, promising “a 1930s speakeasy through the lens of 1970s nostalgia” with velvet banquets and restored brass stools. An opening night party in the ground floor retail space at 20 Prince St. featured cocktails and a vintage photo booth.
The pop-ups “each have their own vibe, but the goal is the same: a hands-on, in-person experience where people can get creative, connect with the brand and walk away with something that feels truly theirs,” said Natenshon in an email.
He and partner Adam Lynch started Marine Layer in 2009 in an attempt, as Natenshon tells it, to replace his favorite t-shirt. The company, named for the meteorological term for the cool fog that famously gathers along the California coastline in the summer — especially in San Francisco — specializes in basic pieces in muted colors engineered for “seven-day weekend” wear. The holiday pop-ups invite customers to personalize their $58 luxe sueded tees with one of around 70 of colorful novelty patches for about $15, or on-site custom embroidery for $30.
Since its first store opened in San Francisco’s posh Marina District in 2010, privately held Marine Layer has expanded to about 50 stores nationwide. It also runs a clothing recycling program called Re-Spun.
While the brand boasts high customer loyalty, it is something of a niche player among mainstream retailers, said Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData.
“Activations that allow personalization or interaction with brands are a way of cutting through in a noisy and crowded market,” Saunders said. “They also allow brands to forge deeper connections with shoppers than standard stores.”
The San Francisco store is down the street from Nordstrom Local, another small-format neighborhood retail concept that opened this fall, where customers can try on or pick up online orders, make returns or get alterations done. The Seattle-based chain has launched a handful of the merchandise-free stores in Los Angeles, New York and now San Francisco.
Like Marine Layer, the department store brand is an attempt to generate goodwill and publicity for the brand in urban neighborhoods.