Eric Dickstein hasn’t read The Tipping Point. He doesn’t know what “early adopter” means. He doesn’t buy advertising. But the sales rep for eyewear brands Oliver Peoples, Paul Smith and Mosley Tribes knows his customers and says they have a “quest for authenticity.” Four years ago Dickstein founded Dutil , a denim-only boutique, with partner Darrin Kenigsberg, a former marketing director with Earnest Sewn. From the shop that shared the street “with the junkies” in Vancouver’s Gastown, they launched their own line of men’s and women’s denim called the Quintessential Series.
This summer, they opened the Times Profi le Shop just around the corner. Dickstein coined the term “temporary brand profi ling” to describe his business plan, which is an evolution of pop-up retail where TPS supplies and staffs a permanent space while tenant brands change every four to six months and design their own look. The fi rst resident, Montreal’s Naked and Famous Denim, opened Aug . 12. “We partner up with brands that we are very passionate and excited about, and our objective is to have the brand’s philosophy translated within the confi nes of our retail location,” says Dickstein. The shop is housed in a historical building with a red concrete fl oor and lots of room to fi nd Naked and Famous men’s shirts, boots, belts and denim that sell at $245 for cashmere stretch and $310 for a double weave pant.
The rest of Gastown seems to have caught up. It still has edge, but instead of junkies, the store is surrounded by trendy restaurants, local designers and funky clothing stores fi lled with the young and hip. “Times Profi le Shop is really for people in the know. They want to know the coolest, latest information,” explains Dickstein. “We are coming from a street perspective. We are working with brands that are up and coming.” Dickstein calls his customers “tastemakers” and says that they are like “a melting pot of Vancouver… These are people who spend all their time researching the newest, the latest, the coolest things in the world . They want to know about things before they happen.”
So what does it means to be cool and hip in Vancouver? “Even just putting a label on them is a turnoff, they want to be something that’s undefi ned,” he says. “They are passionate about fi nding things that are authentic.” When Naked and Famous moves out in December, the next brand will likely be one of Dickstein’s own eyewear companies, or perhaps Kansas-based Happy Socks or Cheap Monday, a clothing label that started out as a secondhand clothing store in Stockholm. Dickstein says he’d also like to see an electric scooter company rent the space.
What he does request is that each brand produces a few exclusive items for their Times residency. At present that’s a line of limited edition wallets, card and cigarette lighter holders branded “Times Naked and Famous.” The long-term goal, he says, is to open fi ve to 10 locations across North America.
