Inside Casual Industrees

All it takes is an idea and the drive to create something which is what Dan Reid did when he started Casual Industrees with his brother Brendan in the late 1990’s.  From their Mt Baker days they went forth with a clothing company that was about the WA roots, they continue to be a multi-hundred company with their homegrown roots and local designs.  Their softgoods continue to be a favorite of mine, from their Wa Brah outline to their chairlift that graces the shirts; they signify exactly what I miss about the northwest which is that it’s all about representing your roots.

Located at Dan’s house in West Seattle, the Casual Industrees headquarters aren’t your typical snowboard office..I figured that out when Dan opened the door in his bathrobe.  However just below in the basement and garage lives a company that focuses on softgoods with a northwest touch to it.

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Last week Dan was my tour guide through the Casual headquarters which required showing off his workspace like the kitchen/break room.  He did change out of the bathrobe for the tour but I missed getting a shot of him in it.

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Sometimes all it takes to start a snowboard company is the garage; a location to get your start in.  Casual Industrees still has that garage where the screen prints are done and shirts are made.  They get stamped with the tag on each shirt, here’s one that casually displays made in garage.

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Checking out the screen printed tag action.

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Screen printing off in the garage, today was a quiet day with most of the products ready for shipment

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Inside the house and down the stairs is where all the magic happens for Casual Industrees.  Kristen is hanging out on the stairs seeing what the guys are up to, whether it’s updating the Brahg Blog or getting orders from the website out for the day…the basement keeps busy getting the Casual name out.

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The basement houses all the work places for each person in an open environment, no cubicles here or your own private office space.  Even Dan sits in an open desk where he can watch the work go down.

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Dan at his desk, I had just informed him he made the Tackledbox blog and had the better picture of the two of us.  He’s checking it out to see what was mentioned.

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Down in the basement there is a side room with the product for spring 2010 on showcase, hanging up and looking pretty.

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But the majority of the products are sized and organized into boxes waiting to be pulled out.  I ended up walking away with a new shirt and hoodie with my favorite chairlift logo they do.

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Packing and getting orders out from the online website

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A Casual Industrees file cabinet getting the collection of logos and representation on it

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Vinny the dog checking in on the shipments going out soon

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Huge thanks to Dan for showing me around and it was a fun stop to see where my favorite shirts get designed and created.  Definitely check out Casual Industrees if you haven’t yet.