Catching Up With: Vestal’s Johnny Gehris and Marty Kish

kailee bradstreet

• November 14 2008
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For Vestal owners Johnny Gehris and Marty Kish, also VP of Marketing, the company is still very much the same as it was when Gehris first set out to acquire it back in 2001. After going through several transition periods that included launching the company into the surf, skate and snow industry in 2002, expanding globally to include offices in Europe and Hong Kong, and taking on a sister licensing business in 2004, Vestal recently decided to refocus its energy on the company’s roots.

“Nothing has changed for all intents and purposes. You walk in and people are all doing the same thing as they were before,” says Gehris, during a conference call with Transworld Business earlier this week. Gehris and Kish say the company is getting back to its initial goals, while at the same time making changes to the overall business model - including making the company 100 percent employee-owned - and preparing for the launch of a new product line.

TWB: There are a few rumors floating around right now. Can you tell me about what’s going on at Vestal?

MK: Vestal is launching sunglasses in the spring of 2010. We’ve held the trademark to do sunglasses for several years now. We’ve kicked the idea around every year, saying, “OK is it time? Is it time?” Now, it’s like we all came together as a group with the economy in such a challenging position. Everything just started falling into place. Once everything gets freed up, and once the dust settles, we think it will be a really good time to introduce sunglasses. But we’re not going to try to come up with a thousand skews. We always use the example of In-And-Out Burger menus. The line will be limited, and use the best-possible, high-end materials.

TWB: Can you break down the new line a little bit more – styles, price points, materials?

MK: Unfortunately, that’s information that we are saving for our launch. We’ll do a soft launch this time next year, but you’ll have to wait for spring of 2010 for us to make the official announcement on that.

TWB: I noticed on Vestal’s Web site, there’s a video clip about how the company recently started using two new materials – grosgain and acetate - on its Fall-Holiday watch line. Acetate is mainly used for hand-formed, high-end sunglass frames. Was working with this new material part of your inspiration for the sunglass line?

MK: Yeah, that is definitely part of it. We are going to share a lot of the same materials, as well as treatments and processes for this new line that we use on the watches. Plexy-acetate, specifically, will be a shared material on the sunglasses and watches.

TWB: How will the product be marketed? Will all the same retailers who currently carry Vestal products also carry your sunglasses, or will you branch out and create new distribution models?

MK: We’re going to keep the sunglass segment focused to roughly two dozen skews for now, and we’re looking to add the sunglasses line to our existing displays that are already in retail stores. The bulk of our support will come from our current retailers. Typically speaking, all the retailers who carry us right now will probably carry our sunglasses. Like I mentioned before we are not going to try to hardcore press this to everyone. If someone carries our soft goods and watches, they are probably a little more prone to carrying our sunglasses.

TWB: Are any of the details for the product and the marketing initiative still being worked out or revised?

MK: I think we have a pretty clear outline. Things are still changing, just because we have the time. We are not going to utilize the athlete teams to market this line. We’re really going to lean on our musical artists, through both print and digital media.

TWB: Has anything changed with ownership of the company?

JG: There have been no executive changes; actually, nothing has really changed in years. The fundamentals of the business have changed, in that I had two other partners and those two were really trying to leverage Vestal in order to grow another lifestyle brand separate of Vestal.

About four years ago, we brought in a new investor and the goal was to grow a licensing company separate and distinct from Vestal. That licensing company utilized the relationships and know-how of Vestal, and was separate from the company, but we shared a building. My partner ramped up that side of the business and that was all part of their business model at the time, sort of becoming a mini Fossil. Now, that business is winding down to a level that is healthy for Vestal.

TWB: So what happens now with the licensing branch of the company?

JG: The main focus is Vestal and the licensing business will always be complimentary and supportive of Vestal, but not the main driving force. As a result of us winding down that business, our goal was to bring it back to the level where Vestal is always the main focus. When my business partner left, I was left to manage that business. I’ve brought it back to the level it was at before the private investor came in.

TWB: When did all this happen?

JG: The decision to refocus our efforts began at the start of the fourth quarter 2007. September 1, 2008, was the effective date of the transaction to buy back the business.

TWB: How has that changed the direction of the company, if at all?

JG: When we decided to go back to focusing solely on Vestal, it was not that it [the licensing brand] had changed or hurt the business at all. It helped us grow and advance the design process. But we are all here to grow Vestal. When we look at the business and say, “What do we need to focus on?” It’s Vestal. In light of the bad economy, there are positive opportunities that come about; it really facilitated us taking over the company and making it grow.