SRF DRY Origins
So the SRF DRY Origins story isn't quite as riveting as Wolverine's but we sure did get angry when the first version of the Polar Edition changing robe wasn't waterproof enough so.......
On the site there's a bit about our story that explains a little about who we are and how we came to form SRF DRY - you should read it, it's super well written & pretty heart warming. The blog allows us to write in a bit more detail with a slightly lower quality standard, so we thought we'd explain a bit more here.
Prior to SRF DRY our time was (and still is) spent in retail, focussing on the surf & skate markets. We've built up a lot of experience and good relationships with big brands in these areas, and as a result we have a pretty good idea of what customers need. Our experince has also allowed us to gain knowledge off the varying prices and quality standards of products on the market, as well as the sort of margins that brands are making on their sales.
Something that stood out to us was the glaring gap in the market for a strong, customer focussed brand that could offer affordable apparel in the surf and outdoor market.
Dryrobe is by far and away the biggest brand in the market, for good reason. We're not here to try and claim that we're bigger and better than Dryrobe because we're clearly not. They have a great product, real nice quality and a solid brand, this goes without saying and if you want to spend the money we can recommend their products, no haters here (We even linked them in our blog!)
After Dryrobe there are a number of brands that offer decent products at decent prices but we strive to be better than that - much better. Who knows, one day we might be able to compete with Dryrobe, we'll certainly try our best. Firstly we're focussing on establishing ourselves, proving that we are different to the other brands and most importantly, proving that we care.
This sounds like the same old sentimental drivel that gets pushed out by everybody that's trying to sell something - it makes us cringe a bit writing it tbh. The only way we can prove that we're more than a cliche is by the way that we act, the way that we treat people and by behaving like more than just a business.
You'll see a lot of mental health based blogs on our site going forward, we'll be talking about depression, anxiety, PND, PTSD and any other health problems that people would like to discuss. You won't normally see blogs focussing on these things on retail sites. They will be deemed distracting, not in keeping with the shiny happy brand image.
In reality our wellbeing is woven through everything that we do and this includes how we interact online, how we trust and how we develop relationships. We're proud to be different. Quite honestly, we don't care if the blog can at times go off topic and have nothing at all to do with our 'core business'. Life is more than just selling to people 24/7.
Yes, of course we would love for you to buy our products, to come back and keep buying our products and to recommend us to everybody you know. Selling a quality product and caring about the general happiness of the population can go hand in hand (I know, bit of a shocker).
If people visit our site, read the blog, contribute some guest posts or just check out our instagram every now and then for some light relief without ever spending a penny - we'd be delighted to have been able to share just a little bit of that person's time.
The intention of this post was to explain a bit about how we got to where we are, sourcing suppliers, going through the prototype process and getting products shipped to us (looooooooong). Clearly we went a little off course so the rest of that good stuff will come in future posts - sorry about that!!