In the approaching years, Mr. Stillwell added, Delta Apparel plans to open as many as 20 new Salt Life shops throughout the nation, in Georgia, Texas, California and different states.
A Brand Grows in Florida
The retailer in Long Branch, like Salt Life’s different shops (most of that are in Florida), is designed to evoke the model’s leisurely, sunbaked aesthetic. Stacks of neatly folded shirts are organized on surfboards, and coconut-shaped candles are displayed inside a fishing cooler. Tank tops that learn “Salt Life Reel Escape” hold on a rack propped up by harpoon weapons.
David Pachanian, 65, from Marlboro, N.J., purchased a black sweatshirt that he placed on simply after leaving the shop. “It feels good for the seashore,” stated Mr. Pachanian, a manager at a catering firm.
Along with Salt Life’s development there have been darkish durations, too. In February, a couple of decade after Delta Apparel paid $37 million to acquire the brand from its original owners in 2013, one in every of Salt Life’s former homeowners, Michael Hutto, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after shooting and killing his girlfriend in October 2020.
Later that October, Delta Apparel issued an announcement that learn, partially: “Salt Life sends their utmost sympathies to the household and pals of the deceased.” The assertion additionally stated that Mr. Hutto had not been concerned with the model since its acquisition. (Mr. Hutto, after pleading responsible, was sentenced to 12 years in jail.)
Jason Motes, 51, knowledgeable surfer and surf coach in Jacksonville, grew to become an envoy for Salt Life quickly after it was based in 2003. He stated that the model has come a good distance since its early days, when Mr. Hutto, his childhood pal, would move out T-shirts at events.