Chubbies began in San Francisco in 2011 with vintage-inspired men’s shorts and marketing centered on the weekend. The apparel company later broadened its clothing range and became part of Solo Brands in 2021.
The founders were Kyle Hency, Tom Montgomery, Preston Rutherford and Rainer Castillo. Hency traced the business idea to a Fourth of July trip to Lake Tahoe in 2011, when the friends made retro-inspired patriotic clothing for their group. He said they sold their extra pieces to people on the beach, with the shorts attracting particular interest.
Hency said the founders initially made shorts in limited runs and sold to friends while continuing their day jobs, then launched a website to sell directly to customers. He described the shorts as having a 5.5-inch inseam.
Early customers and an informal voice
In an early interview, Hency described Chubbies’ target customer as someone aged 15 to 30 who identified with its weekend theme. He said its primary markets were the Southeast and coastal cities. The company also directed marketing toward college students.
Chubbies raised $4 million in 2014 in a round led by J. Christopher Burch through Burch Creative Capital. Discussing possible uses of the financing, Hency described marketing experiments, including a football tailgate tour in the South.
The company used conversational language in product descriptions and mobile-app notifications. Co-founder Preston Rutherford explained the approach: “Our customers know we sell shorts and shirts for the weekend, so we don’t have to constantly say that. We just want to make them laugh and remind them we’re there. We’re not standoffish.”
Customer participation and fulfillment
Customer photographs and other user-generated content were part of Chubbies’ social marketing. The company also encouraged participation through a 2012 giveaway campaign called Kooziepalooza.
The campaign offered beverage koozies to people who clicked the Like and Share buttons on Chubbies’ Facebook page if its likes doubled from 25,000 to 50,000 within a month. Montgomery said the count reached 75,000, leaving the company with 50,000 koozies to ship.
Montgomery said the founders had to find packaging that kept postage costs within the campaign’s budget, hire workers to prepare shipments and arrange bulk shipping. He described the campaign as an early introduction to the logistics requirements of a growing retail business.
Expansion and the 2021 acquisition
Chubbies’ product range expanded beyond shorts to include shirts and swimwear. On September 3, 2021, Solo Stove announced that it had recently acquired Chubbies, Oru Kayak and ISLE, bringing the businesses together under Solo Brands.
Solo Brands said it planned to share resources and unify back-office functions across the businesses. The announcement placed Chubbies within a group spanning apparel, fire pits, kayaks and paddleboards.
