Will the real Hollister, Calif. please stand up?
When a Los Angeles Times reporter stopped by The Pinnacle
newsroom a few months ago to do some background work on a story, we
were all wondering what was going on.
Will the real Hollister, Calif. please stand up?
When a Los Angeles Times reporter stopped by The Pinnacle newsroom a few months ago to do some background work on a story, we were all wondering what was going on.
He might have expected us to ask, “What’s this big city feller doin’ here?” But we didn’t. He was just doing some background research for an article about the Abercrombie & Fitch surf culture-inspired clothing line that bears the same name as our beloved town.
He wanted to see what it is really like in the real Hollister, Calif., where the only surfing spots are on our computers, and whether our town is really up in arms about the company putting our town’s name on its popular clothing.
The article, “Hollister, Calif., is at odds with Abercrombie over name,” ran in the Times’ business section last Friday, with the sub-headline “The agricultural town and the retail giant both lay claim to the label ‘Hollister.'”
It’s always interesting to see how visitors describe our town. We don’t get much press outside the county line, except when there’s a major earthquake here or the bikers roll into town each Fourth of July.
The article talks about our “lush farmlands” and big-rigs that haul produce through “this quiet agricultural town.” The reporter mentions Jerry’s restaurant and Col. Hollister and San Benito High School.
Then he notes how we residents of Hollister say Abercrombie & Fitch “hijacked the town’s name, how the company has threatened to sue merchants who use “Hollister” on the clothing they sell, and how the company won’t open a branch of its store here to help our economy.
There was no mention of pitchforks and torches, thank goodness.
I didn’t notice any factual errors in the reporter’s story, though the issue was a bit hotter a couple of years ago when the economy was better and more people could afford to pay $50 for a tight-fitting Hollister & Co. shirt.
It’s the David vs. Goliath story that interested the Times. The “real” Hollister – the podunk ag town – vs. the company whose lawyer, according to the Times, “pulled the Hollister name out of thin air then created a storyline to project a Southern California beach vibe to go with the surf-wear line.”
Fair enough, but our town has been around since 1872 and, as far as I can tell, we’ve been noted on maps for more than a century.
That being said, I can’t imagine someone from Abercrombie & Fitch drove past Hollister’s sewer ponds and thought, “Hollister; surfing; brilliant!” Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt there.
But when an attorney says that local merchants who dare put the name “Hollister” on clothing they sell “would get a call and much more,” I’m thinking, back off, buddy.
If Muenzer’s Cyclery and Sports Center wants to sell T-shirts with our town’s name on them or Hollister Motorsports puts its company name on clothes, is that really going to infringe upon Abercrombie & Fitch’s branding rights?
As the article mentions, Hollister, Calif. was incorporated 137 years ago, so if anyone should be threatening anyone, perhaps David should go after Goliath.
Hollister’s City Attorney, Stephanie Atigh, rightly told the Times that, “There’s no way you can trademark Hollister, Calif.” because it’s a geographical place. An intellectual property law professor from Stanford told the paper that trademark is not an issue “if all you are doing is identifying your city’s name on your shirt.”
I will proudly wear my Hollister Little League sweatshirt and Hollister Vikings T-shirt and Hollister Young Guns travel baseball jacket and Hollister National Junior Basketball coaching shirt with pride. Is Abercrombie & Fitch going to come sue these nonprofit youth organizations for making and selling clothes that bear OUR city’s name?
Maybe the controversy, reported in our local papers over the past few years but just now reaching beyond the county line, will encourage some people to come visit “The Real Hollister, Calif.”
We don’t have any surfing spots – though there are whitecaps at the sewer plant on a windy day – but we have great weather, great people and a great deal of pride in our hometown.
Wear those locally-made Hollister shirts and sweatshirts with pride, or at least until you get subpoenaed.
