Simon Beard knew he by no means needed to “work a real job” in his “whole life”, however little did he know promoting items on the Carrara Markets on the Gold Coast — with now-wife Tah-nee — would see him construct a $600 million empire in streetwear label Culture Kings.
Having appeared on the Australian Financial Review Rich List in his 30s, Beard was simply a youngster when he kicked off his Carrara Markets profession.
The Queenslander quickly realised there was a spot available in the market — pushing him to additional discover streetwear — one thing he beloved himself.
“I was always buying it for myself, and I couldn’t believe people were just wearing surf clothes — I thought, ‘that stuff is whack’,” he instructed news.com.au.
“I bought some Dickies shorts from Walmart in America for $16 that surf stores were selling for $100, sold those, bought more, sold them, and I kept seeing that gap in the market.
“It all started with a pair of shorts and it quickly grew — I saw way more potential in it and I was passionate about it and loved it, so it got all my focus and attention and I just went nuts on it.”
In 2009 Beard and his spouse got here up with sufficient money to open their first humble retailer within the coastal suburb of Southport.
Quickly changing into a go-to for premium streetwear, the model — stocking 100 worldwide manufacturers and “world-exclusive pieces” — rapidly began to collect a cult following.
In 2020 it turned over virtually $200 million with a $20m web revenue, seeing big A-listers in-store over the journey.
Drake, Migos, A$AP Rocky and Snoop Dogg are simply a number of the large names to pay the model an in-person go to.
In 2011, Snoop Dogg even snapped up whopping $25,000 price of merchandise.
You’ll know if you’re close to a Culture Kings retailer. The all-black design is paired with loud music and stay DJ performances, creating an immersive expertise for buyers to peruse their favorite, premium streetwear.
Today, the model has shops in Sydney, Pacific Fair, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Chadstone, Parramatta, Auckland and Las Vegas, and boasts 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
In 2021, Culture Kings was snapped up by US purchaser aka. Brands for $307m in money (in addition to 23.3 million shares), seeing it hit a complete price of greater than $600m.
After the sale, the husband-and-wife duo — nonetheless of their 30s — debuted on the Australian Financial Review Rich List with a complete web price of $626m.
“I slowly built it with my wife . . . we shut up, put our heads down and worked for five years straight, and slowly grew by 20 to 40 per cent a year,” Beard stated.
“When we had enough cash to invest we would double-down, and for a huge period there we paid our staff way more than us, for years. Some people don’t have the discipline to do that, but we just wanted to keep investing (in the business).
“I’m so lucky to have had my wife — if I was a young single guy, I probably would have bought the Lambos and been popping bottles at the club, but because we built it together, we consciously made the decision to just grind this out — we never did interviews, we didn’t tell anyone (how successful the brand was) until (the sale) came out, and all of a sudden people said, ‘what the hell? Culture Kings is worth $600m?’” he stated.
“It was all done with no loans or investors. We proved you can build a $600m brand without it (outside investment).”
After the sale, Beard stated he and his spouse went on a well-deserved break, splurging on some big-ticket gadgets on the identical time.
“I bought a few well-deserved toys — a boat and Lambos and stuff, because I always wanted them,” he stated.
Despite lately stepping away from the corporate’s day-to-day runnings, Beard nonetheless stays on the board.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
