Collection: About Our Brand
It' was the summer of 1994, two weeks before Memorial Day.
Bob from Tortuga's Lie had an employee that I had met in college who encouraged me to come to Nags Head over Virginia Beach. I met Bob and told him my story and the rest is history. A simple gesture allowing me to stay and camp in the bed of my brother's truck in a busy restaurant's parking lot for two weeks changed the course, path and direction of my life at 22 years old. I ended up meeting Ben and Steve the second day next door while they were working on opening the Pit Surf Shop on the beach road right next to Tortuga's Lie. Without Bob there is no Ben, no Steve. No Pit for me. I got lucky and found myself invited to live in the shop Memorial Weekend. What a blessing. The next year I went on to work in the surf industry in my early twenties as a sales rep in the surf skate and snow industry (now action sports) and my life was blessed since the days I met Bob then Ben and Steve. OBX Hoodies started out as an idea back then but I left to go west and spent 27 years in San Diego. In March I revisited the concept and set out to put together a simple hoodie brand. Main goal is using only INDEPENDENT TRADING Co hoodies whenever possible. Quality hoodies, crews, shirts, hats and swag. Quality is the foundation. Simple clean branding and art.
The passing of my father in February brought me home for his celebration of life and my mother asked me to move closer to home, that it "was time". As luck would have it I was fortunate to have a new friend help me find a place in March. I left San Diego in mid June and later settled in Kill Devil Hills. OBX Hoodies is my take on "how I would do a brand respecting the locals and targeting the visitors to this region", visitors and tourists who love the locals, their hospitality, the fishing, the food and restaurants and the rad surf sleepy beach life vibes. I came here as a young man chasing storm swells. The famous Hatteras Lighthouse. S-turns. Cruising up from our camp spots to chase girls in town. Memories of a true beach town to its' core. It's where I have always found a sense of home and am blessed to return. I learned to surf across the street from the Pit. Ate almost every day that summer at Tortuga's on employee rates. Life was good. So good. That happiness and those memories is what inspired OBX Hoodies & Lanyards.
My brands are an homage to the surf, fish and outdoor life style of the Outer Banks. Camping, exploring, surf trips, beach life, good food, real people and simplicity. Raised in the outdoors by parents that loved nature, boating, fishing, camping and fast cars, trucks and motorcycles. My brands a reflection of my youth, my life and my experiences in the surf and action sports industry starting Memorial Day 1994 where I found myself at 22 years old living in a Surf Shop. So wild. So fun. Returning feels so right.
OBX Hoodies a brand under the Kranik Brand umbrella. Quality hoodies. Quality Lanyards. Quality Everything. Keep it simple stupid approach. Thanks for your interest and hopefully support. If we do good we will give back.
OBX Hoodies / Kranik Brand / Skwok Brand