Latest news with #Sack
Entrepreneur
5 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
27-Year-Old Grows DTC Business From $60,000 to Over $500,000
Ruth Sack, 27, grew up with Streets Ahead, the luxury leather accessories brand her father, David Sack, founded in 1982. She and her siblings painted belts with nail polish in the Los Angeles factory and attended trade shows across the country with their parents. Image Credit: Courtesy of Streets Ahead. Ruth Sack. But it wasn't until 2020 that Sack considered dedicating significant time to the brand. "I went to UCLA and studied gender studies, and then Covid hit," Sack says. "I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I started helping out with the family business because things were pretty tough, and I actually sort of loved it." Sack went on to attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) and step in as Streets Ahead's head of marketing and design. Related: This 29-Year-Old's Side Hustle Brought People 'to the Dark Green Side.' It Made $10,000 Within 2 Days and Sees 6 Figures a Month. Streets Ahead's products are made locally in California with leather and hardware sourced from Italy, and the brand is known for its novelty pieces — "bestselling belts [with] crazy heart hardware with chains and snakes and things like that" — that have been spotted on numerous celebrities, including Beyoncé during her Cowboy Carter tour. Image Credit: Courtesy of Streets Ahead The brand built on its success as a legacy wholesale business over the decades, but when Sack joined the team, she wanted to explore its potential in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) space. As it turns out, there was a lot: In just a few years, Sack grew DTC revenue from $60,000 to more than $500,000. Streets Ahead is projected to hit $3.2 million to $3.5 million in total revenue in 2025, with $2.7 million to $3 million from wholesale and $500,000 to $600,000 from DTC. Related: 'Absolute Freedom': Siblings Behind a Self-Funded 8-Figure Brand Reveal 3 Secrets Aspiring Entrepreneurs Should Know About Growth and Success "I came in and changed the platform to Shopify, kind of just revamped the whole thing." Streets Ahead's foray into DTC sales started with a website refresh. "We always had a website, but [no one ran it]," Sack says. "It didn't really make any money. It was never up to date. So I came in and changed the platform to Shopify, kind of just revamped the whole thing, and started adding products and keeping it up to date. And immediately we saw a difference." Once her parents saw the results, they were even more willing to invest in the brand's DTC strategy. Streets Ahead leaned into professional content creation and advertising and continued to see its DTC sales grow. Related: 6 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before Launching a Direct to Consumer Brand Part of the brand's digital transformation also included a logo overhaul, Sack says. The company featured the new design across its social media platforms and started to generate interest from major influencers like Rocky Barnes, who boasts more than three million followers on Instagram and 200,000 followers on TikTok. " She found us through an ad that we were running, and she wanted the exact belts from the ad," Sack recalls. "So we started doing some gifting, and we could see that it worked. As we built our social presence, especially Instagram and ads, we got so many DMs, and now they keep coming." Image Credit: Courtesy of Streets Ahead "99% of the time we're making it from scratch." Sack would love to sell more on TikTok, but the platform's quick-ship requirements prove challenging for the made-to-order brand, as "everything is essentially custom" and takes time to manufacture. Whereas other companies might have thousands of units sitting in a warehouse ready to ship, every time Streets Ahead receives an order, that request is sent down to the factory, which starts the production process. "We don't have anything made here unless there was a return and we have [that returned product]," Sack says. "99% of the time we're making it from scratch." Related: I Revamped a Men's Product for Women. The Bootstrapped Business Was a Hit — and Pledged $20 Million to Support Women Entrepreneurs. Because of Streets Ahead's branding and social media presence, it can get "a little bit lost" on people that each item really is custom-made for them, Sack notes. The company follows up on particularly large orders to confirm them before moving forward with fulfillment. What's more, despite the business's made-to-order model, Streets Ahead does accept returns. " I buy things that I want to try and might return — we all do it," Sack says. "If we want to have this type of direct-to-consumer [platform], there has to be some kind of return. People need to try things on. They don't know their size. So we do allow returns, [but] we've now started to put a little tag on [products] that says, If this tag is removed, we can't accept the return, to prevent people from wearing it and then sending it back." "You have to be okay doing the grunt work." As Sack considers Street Ahead's future and her own role within it, she's excited to expand the brand's offerings beyond belts. The brand dropped its first handbag collection last month, and Sack says she'd love to branch into shoes, particularly leather boots and sandals with hardware, down the line. Image Credit: Courtesy of Streets Ahead Related: 'Rules Are Suggestions': This Fashion Founder Is Using AI to Eliminate the Industry's Massive Sizing and Waste Problems For young professionals or aspiring entrepreneurs who hope to make their mark on the fashion industry, Sack says it's important to "learn a little bit of everything" — and be prepared to do your part. "You have to be okay doing the grunt work," Sack says. "There are some days I'm down shipping, some days I'm cleaning buckles, things that someone as a designer or creative director doesn't necessarily want to do. But you need to be a team player and be willing to know every single role."
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Controversy erupts over change of NE Philly Catholic high school uniform
The Brief One of Philadelphia's most well-known Catholic schools is changing its uniform. Girls at St. Hubert Catholic High School are saying goodbye to the "Sack." But, change isn't easy and the move has some parents and students upset. NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA - A uniform change at a Philadelphia Catholic school has parents and students on opposite sides and upset over the changes. What we know Anyone who went to Catholic school in Philadelphia knows how passionate people are about their alma mater. But, an unforeseeable controversy has erupted over St. Hubert High School's announcement that they are changing the uniform students will wear. What they're saying "I like it, I do like the new change, but I still think it's a shock to us," freshman Ivy Clark laughed. She said she doesn't mind the new uniform and her mom doesn't mind, either. "My mother went to St. Hubert's and she wore that uniform and I understand nostalgia but I think maybe it's time to move on," Maggie Clark said. Timeline Ivy commented, "I don't think it's right in that sense because you didn't tell us that this wasn't gonna be our uniform fully for the entire time here that we have been here at St. Hubert's." Maggie is one of the parents who voted for the new uniform and isn't too worried about the cost. She said, "I assume every year I'm going to get a new one. She's still growing and there's wear and tear, so it doesn't go into effect until next year, so that gives me the summer. I was going to buy a new one anyway. It's just a different uniform." The other side But, a whole lot of other parents, students and graduates are not at all happy as Laurajean Snellbaker shouted, "Keep the sack!" Keep the sack is the mantra of Snellbaker and others and there's an online petition with more than 2,000 signatures demanding to "Bring back the sack!" St. Hubert's Class of 2024 alumni, Alivia Murphy and Snellbaker's daughter, stated, "I personally like the traditional sack because I graduated in it and my sister goes to the school still, so I really want to see her graduate in the same thing!" Snellbaker continued, "There's no legit reason behind it. I know more than a dozen parents that cannot afford what we're going through as is, walking in through, starting our kid for the school we just can't afford it." Dig deeper The school's administrators say the goal is to modernize the look of the uniforms and said in a statement: "We realize a new uniform does mean an additional cost for families. We have taken that concern seriously and have taken steps to control cost to the greatest degree possible." So many people weighed in on social media that comments on Instagram and Facebook were shut down. Alumni Tracy Schmid said, "I think people are used to what they had when they graduated and any change makes them nervous." Local perspective The president of St. Huberts said the school has 30,000 of the most passionate graduates in the world and she understands people care. The topic was bound to stir up emotions, but it just shows St. Hubert's will be around for a long time.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
McDowell cheer team hope to claim back-to-back to state championships
The McDowell Cheerleading team is again heading to the state championships! The co-ed team did one final practice cheer in their home gym before departing on the bus Wednesday morning. McDowell competitive cheerleaders celebrate as state champs Their parents were in the parking lot to give them parting hugs and well wishes. Senior Savannah Sack said 10 and a half months of blood, sweat and tears have prepared them for this week. Penn State Behrend students getting their groove to prep for THON fundraiser The team will compete in prelims on Thursday. If they score well, they'll head to finals in Reading, Pennsylvania on Friday. Sack added that the team will put its best foot forward for the judges with the goal of winning another gold. 'I think they're looking for a clean routine and execution of difficult skills. But I think they're looking for us to be having fun and they want to see everyone has their heart in it. And they really want to see everything we're about and how hard we've worked for this,' Sack said. The McDowell Trojans are the returning state champions and placed second in 2023. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
