How brothers Christian and Justin Arquilla became “ex-Finance guys” in the sock business?
The co-founders of Pacas started theirs ENTREPRENEURS trip in 2013 – when he ran into a very common problem. “I've been walking around New York in moccasins, like boat shoes or whatever, all day,” Justin recalls, “and (my wife is) like, 'Your feet smell terrible, your shoes have smell awful, you should start wearing them. little no-show socks.'”
Justin set out to buy those unshown socks, but he was less than impressed with the options, most of which were either shown or slipped off. Why not create a better product to fill the void? Justin called Christian to pitch the idea of starting their no-show hosiery business, and he was all in. The pair started crazya no-show knitted sock with antimicrobial silver thread that slips into the shoe (instead of the foot), in 2015.
After several years and increased demand for women's products, Gekks expanded its line, introducing a women's non-show sock for ballet flats. The new design was a big hit, Arquillas notes: By 2019, 90% of Gekks' revenue came from its women's products — with 45% from the ballet flat product alone.
Then March 2020 rolled around. With pandemic lockdowns in full force and fewer professionals entering the office, there was less incentive for people to try Gekks. The brothers had to find another way generate income.
Fortunately, they had already started experimenting with another promising sock: one made of alpaca fiber.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pacas
“This is super soft and I've never felt anything like it before.”
A few years ago, Christian was visiting a sock factory in North Carolina for Gekks when he encountered the fiber for the first time. “I walked into the sales manager's room,” says Christian, “and he had this yarn cone on his desk that I felt, and I said, 'What is this? This is very gentle and I never felt anything. as before.' And he said, “Oh, well, that's the alpaca.”
The soft and warm alpaca made Christian think back to when he had visited his 9-year-old cousin in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and heard him talk about how cold and uncomfortable the environment was. Christian recalls that “the light bulb went off. He set out to learn everything about alpaca fiber in order to develop a superior everyday product that could also help make children's hospital stays a little more comfortable.
So in 2017, Arquillas started product development the process. The brothers bought sample yarns—most of which they sourced from the highlands of Peru, where alpaca coats are adapted to extreme daily temperature swings—and tried on a variety of sock designs: everyday, hiking, low-cut. The offerings were similar to those from many merino wool companies at the time, but with benefits unique to alpaca, the brothers explain.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pacas
“It's like the Ferrari of fiber – it's the most incredible fiber ever.”
“Everybody's talking about merino wool as this performance fiber, (and) it is,” says Justin. “Then on the other side, you have cashmere, which is known for its softness and has this luxurious appeal. Alpaca is this fiber that literally has everything that merino wool and cashmere have, all in one. So it's HOW Ferrari of fiber – it's the most incredible fiber ever.”
During the pandemic, the co-founders wanted to explore a baby alpaca offering (which refers to the length of the hair, not the age of the animal), and their investors were in favor of the pivot. There were already proven examples of direct-to-consumer brands selling high-quality socks with charitable initiatives – such as Bombas, Shark tankS ' the most successful brand of all time. The brothers realized they could produce alpaca socks at a reasonable price and fill “a massive white space.” So they launched their Pacas brand under the Gekks umbrella.
At $52 for a three-pack, Pacas are still a luxury sock, but they don't command as high a price as other products of that status, like cashmere socks, which can retail for $30 a pair. say the Arquillas.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pacas
The brothers' pivot paid off. Pacas was officially launched in October 2020 and generated around $400,000 in revenue in its first month. Then the five-star reviews came flooding in, and many of those October shoppers were made repeat customers in November and December. Arquillas and their investors knew it was time to separate Pacas from Gekks.
Pacas raised its own seed round and went on to see more than $45 million in revenue in just three years. The brand has sold 3.2 million pairs of socks and counts more than 360,000 customers across the U.S. Additionally, the brand remains committed to returning: Pacas has partnerships with about 20 local children's hospitals to provide children with alpaca socks during their stay.
These days, Pacas is Arquillas' main focus as they move on DEGREES company, but Gekks continues to generate $500,000 to $600,000 in annual revenue despite limited advertising efforts.
“As you get older, the problems just get bigger and more complex.”
The consumer space has changed dramatically over the past two decades, with success no longer defined by building relationships with shoppers in department stores, but by the work done on social media. directly to the consumer channels and the like. Now, anyone willing to put in the effort can be an entrepreneur — which makes the space more competitive, the co-founders say.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pacas
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The Arquilla brothers continue to pick themselves and Pacas apart by smartly hugging each other pivot and rising to meet tough challenges—again and again.
“There are no right answers,” says Justin, “and you really have to figure things out for yourself. And then it comes back to every day (full of) solving problems. You think it will get easier, but as you get older, the problems just get bigger and more complex. It never ends. You wake up, solve today's problems, then go to bed and start all over again.”