Clocks and Colours caters to men interested in rock & roll, motorcycles, tattoos and barber shop cultures.
Originally designed as an online direct to consumer business, the retailer has opened a new storefront in Ossington in Toronto with plans to launch the brand as well into the United States.
Shane Vitaly Foran, CEO, said the concept began in 2013.
“I launched my first brand, Vitaly, 12 years ago. It quickly found a home in the techno / underground electronic music world and that was totally fine by me. My background was more in the rock & roll / metal tattoo world though. I decided to launch Clocks + Colours as a brand that lived in that universe.
“At its core, Clocks + Colours is a rock & roll brand. I wanted to offer extremely high quality products that were price fairly. What I found at the time was either costume jewelry garbage or incredibly overpriced – I wanted to fill that gap. It was ridiculous – men were getting overlooked. I wanted to fill the gap.”
The company’s primary offering is mid-tier sterling silver jewelry that is hand-crafted in Bali.
“We’ve got a couple of wholesale accounts but it’s never really been part of the business,” said Foran.
The new flagship is at 154 Ossington Avenue.
“It’s basically exactly where I’ve always wanted to have a store for the brand. I think it’s the perfect home for Clocks and Colours. Ossington has kind of always been the street in Toronto that’s reflected my identity. It has cafes and the retail stores that I like, the restaurants and bars that I like. It just felt like the right home,” said Foran.
“It has that rock & roll sensibility but at the same time people are relatively well put together and are quite aware of fashion and style. It checked all the boxes for Clocks and Colours.
“Brick and mortar was always part of the roadmap but until recently we didn’t feel we had a big enough product offering. We knew a retail store would serve us well though because it’s often difficult to convey quality online – sometimes things need to be picked up and felt… Tangible. It’s important when you’re selling things that can be north of $2,000. We also wanted to have a home for our community – somewhere we can host our core audience and strengthen those relationships.”
Foran said the retail store is very strategically set up. There’s a Harley Davidson in the front window, signaling its motorcycle background. There’s a photo gallery that is a huge part of the brand’s DNA. There’s also at the back an entire setup for a band with guitars, amps, showcasing its rock & roll DNA. And there’s a section for Peter McKinnon’s brand Pirate Life.
“We really wanted to have a space where we could tell that story and show people what we’re all about, host events so that people can come see what we’re actually like,” he said.
The Ossington store is about 1,200 square feet.
Foran said the retailer wants to open more stores. A goal is to look next south of the border at places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, potentially Austin.
“Those are all pretty serious considerations for us right now,” he added.
