March 1, 2017
Continuing our series of reviewing new or relocated business in Downtown Petoskey, we visited Tony Cabana’s new store, “dunworkin”, at 208 Howard Street.
“dunworkin is about what you do with your time off, whether you are dunworkin for the day, the week, or the rest of your life. enjoy your day, enjoy your life!” [sic]
The store’s silver trimmed façade, awning, and sculpted door handle in the shape of a tree branch add a new flavor of urban relaxation to a touch of small Northern town Americana. Earthy green, blue and burnt orange painted walls bring calm as you browse t-shirts, sweatshirts, and assorted hats dedicated to a chosen lifestyle.
“About 20% of the people think the brand is about retirement, but it is a relaxed lifestyle brand describing what you do with your time off,” notes Tony. “There was a young teen in recently with his mother on a ski trip. She told me he had to come back to this store to get more shirts.”
Expanding the brand’s demographic is paramount. Some of the favorite shirts include, “flyswatter” for the fly fisherman, “board meeting” with skiers and snowboarders on a chairlift, “bucket list” depicting a basket of golf balls at a driving range, and a local fav, “daily planner” where each day of the week sits atop its own beer tap. For the relaxed time in life, many a shirt is festooned with Adirondack chairs, hammocks, and campfires.
Tony has a long relationship with retail enterprises and includes in his repertoire a working history with Daymond John from the popular ABC network television show, “Shark Tank.”
“I worked with Daymond’s line for 8 years out in Los Angeles. His trademark wear, ‘FUBU’, went from $3 million in sales to over $500 million in just three years,” Tony says with hope for his own store brand.
“We’ve expanded as well,” Tony continues. “Our new store in Blue Ridge, Georgia, is carrying a new line of fleeces and hats soon to make an appearance here.”
The pigment dyed, prewashed shirts come in women’s sizes X-Small through XXL, and men’s sizes from Small thru some XXXL.
“We use really high quality blanks, and the prewashed effect allows a customer to purchase the product knowing it won’t lose size out of the wash.”
Nothing to do when in Downtown Petoskey? Pshaw! If you’re “dunwokin”, saunter into Tony’s shop and find your flag. In fact, I challenge anyone to find a weekend, vacation, or retirement theme not etched or sewn into material as you parade around the store – shopping and not working.
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