Founded in 2010 with the merger of 2 showrooms, The Foundation Showroom now represents some of the best brands out there including: G-shock, SUPER sunglasses, Mosley Tribes, incase, Play Cloths, Urban Ears Headphones, Coloud Headphones, PRO Keds, Keds, Generic Surplus, Generic Man, Native Footwear, Gourmet Footwear, Rockport Seventy One, Mr Lacy, Stussy Womens, Stussy Deluxe and Hellz Bellz. Owner Ari Langsdorf talks shop with us after the jump.

Describe your personal style. Basic, real basic.

When did you start your company? And why?  We started in February of 2010.  My partners and I had always been involved with larger scale brands and wanted the opportunity to take our years of experience and apply it to multiple brands and categories.  We wanted to expand our horizons and begin working in categories outside of apparel, such as footwear, accessories, electronics etc.

How has the recent events in the economy affected you and what have you done to stay afloat?  Besides give me nightmares?  On a serious note, we have made some serious adjustments to our overall model and strategy.  About a year ago, we started looking for projects that had a broad appeal to multiple types of retailers and consumers, such as Mr Lacy, Keds, Urban Ears, incase etc..  We have also started working with larger companies, who can make the product we sell, collect on the invoices and ultimately pay our commission.  We have also started working with a lot of brands whose average price point is between $60-$100, making these items easy on the retailer and consumer, while keeping the appeal high through premium distribution (Generic Surplus, Keds, Gshock etc..)

 What services does your business offer that are out of the ordinary?  We are able to offer, not only the best sales agency in our market, but can couple those services with complete back office capabilities.  It is the lack of back office that is a detriment to most smaller brands.

Being an entrepreneur and a small business owner has its rewards and challenges. How do you view the business?  I think there is a world of opportunity in the market for the right products at the right price, now more then ever.  I do not believe we will come back to a full branded cycle for some time and that items will drive our business for some time.  If you have the right item you can make a lot of noise right now.  

Trendwise, where do you see the market heading?  I think one of the biggest trends right now is this classic Americana look.  You see brands like Ralph Lauren infiltrating stores, that a year ago were carrying Ed Hardy and Christian Audiger.  In the contemporary and urban markets brands like Nautica, Timberland and Levi’s making huge pushes again, while you are also seeing new age brands like 10Deep and Prps pay homage to older classics with flannel shirts, Harrington jackets and cable knit sweaters making up the majority of there collections, replacing the once sought after graphic t-shirt.  As these trends continue I think you will see the market continue to go back to classics, weather its a pair of white Keds champions, Red Wing Boots or a great pair of Edwin jeans.  As far as current and future best sellers, right now we are selling a lot of moderately priced items with classic looks, especially in footwear.  Weather it is a pair of boat shoes or a classic oxford, we are doing very well with these looks at a price below $100.00.  I think this will continue well into the future as these items continue to gain ground. Going forward I would also think you will see some old favorites become wildly popular again!

If you decided to have a lifestyle change and do something else, what would you do ?  EASY.  Move to Hawaii and rent Jet Ski’s to tourists on the beach and never wear shoes or a shirt again!