The City of Hollister may be best known for its agriculture and
motorcycle rally. But the Ohio-based clothing company with the same
name
– selling a California-cool image – has caused some conflict and
confusion locally.
Hollister – The City of Hollister may be best known for its agriculture and motorcycle rally. But the Ohio-based clothing company with the same name – selling a California-cool image – has caused some conflict and confusion locally.
Executive directors from the Hollister Downtown Association and the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce have voiced concern over the Hollister Co., a subsidiary of the Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Co., having trademarked the word “Hollister” for its clothing.
While the action of the internationally-known company has some concerned about potential effects locally, others are less worried or feel the city should use it to its advantage.
Drawing attention to the issue was the owner of the locally-made Rag City Blues jeans, Stacey Crummett. Abercrombie’s attorneys sent her a letter after she had trademarked “Rag City Blues Hollister” contending it conflicted with the company’s trademark of the name “Hollister” when associated with jeans.
“Rag City Blues can get a trademark with the word ‘Hollister’ in it, but that would mean going to head with Abercrombie. It’s just not something I really want to do,” Crummett said.
Although Crummett is the only known local businessperson Abercrombie contacted, other clothing vendors report that people have questioned whether they sell the surfer-brand merchandise.
“We get people walking in all the time asking, ‘Do you have Hollister clothes?'” Drapoel owner Deborah Wood said. “It has nothing to do with the town. It’s named after a surf spot. I think that people are ignorant in fashion.”
Wood said she thought local businesses shouldn’t try to make money using the Hollister Co. brand. She called it “misleading” to use a name Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Co. has spent a great deal of money branding to the local business’ advantage.
Still, others think the town should use Hollister Co. advertising campaigns to put the city on the map. Hollister resident Ruth Erickson said she had the idea to use the store to the city’s advantage after she went to Japan two years ago and was inundated with advertisements and billboards for the Hollister clothing company.
“We need publicity and we need tourism,” Erickson said. “Here we’ve got this free publicity all over the world and we’re not using it.”
With the Hollister clothing company selling the “southern Cali lifestyle,” though, tourists coming to Hollister hoping to see the kind of city depicted in the store’s advertisements might be disappointed to find it closer to San Francisco than San Diego – and 45 minutes away from the nearest beach or surf spot.
But that doesn’t stop Hollister teens from representing their town by purchasing clothes with Hollister emblazoned across them.
On San Benito High School’s campus after school Friday, many students were sporting Hollister tees – and not ones denoting the ‘Balers.
Rancho San Justo student Grezia Sanchez, 13, was holding two Hollister bags as she stood in front of the high school. She said she liked the clothing both because of its name and because of its “surfer style.”
“I like it because it says ‘Hollister’ and I was born here,” she said. “But we don’t even have a beach here!”
