As a B Corp ourselves, we like reading and learning about what fellow B Corps are up to, and when we come across one that’s doing something extraordinary, we like to share their story. Oaklandish came to our attention because they’re local to us (as the name suggests), and though on the surface they may only seem like a t-shirt company, there’s a lot going on in addition to that, and the roots logo they use for their products has a significance well beyond a simple devotion to the Bay Area.

What is now a full-fledged pair of companies started out in 2000 as a humble art collective, using covert street art to foster Oakland civic pride and bring a unique beauty to the city, especially in places where rapid urban development left areas of negative public perception.

Their very first project – a digital slideshow of local legends – was not only popular, but also won awards. This success brought them into public awareness and propelled them on to further projects, each more ambitious than the last, blending artistic vision with viral marketing campaigns. They even operated a gallery space from 2003 to 2005.

This success brought them into public awareness and propelled them on to further projects

Over time, it became clear that the group needed a way to fund their projects, and this need was how the t-shirts idea was born. Selling shirts seemed like a great way to promote art in the city while bringing in some much-needed income.

What ended up happening, though, was that the t-shirts developed into the driving force behind the growing Oaklandish brand, and before long their presence at street festivals and farmers markets became a quintessential part of everything that was cool about Oakland.

From Independent to Dominant

As businesses grow, though, often they have to evolve to stay true to their ideals and keep moving forward. For Oaklandish, this evolution manifested in pulling back from public events, and instead focusing on other ways to foster civic pride. Since t-shirts are a relatively inexpensive way to get a message out in a creative way, and they were proving very popular, it made sense to organize the company around that aspect of the business as the company became more structured.

It was a smart move. There are many ways for a socially-conscious company to measure success, and Oaklandish covers just about all of them. In terms of straightforward business growth, the t-shirts went from strength to strength.

The company opened its first retail store in 2011 in downtown Oakland, and has now been able to open a second location in Dimond earlier this year. In addition, they partnered with a skate park in Oakland in 2012 to create specially-designed skateboards.

From the very beginning of Oaklandish’s history, the main goal was not financial gain, but social benefit

From the very beginning of Oaklandish’s history, though, the main goal was not financial gain, but social benefit. This is a value the company’s directors maintain to this day, and it shows in how they use the profits from their business. The Oaklandish Innovators grant program is currently in its eighth year of giving annual grants to organizations that put their civic duty above all else, and that promote innovation in all areas of Oakland’s civic progress.

Ten percent of Oaklandish’s profits go toward this important community initiative. Recipients of the grant include Youth Alive, which teaches leadership skills to young people affected by violence, and Planting Justice, an organization working to solve the problem of urban hunger in Oakland.

In addition to the flagship Oaklandish brand, the company saw an opportunity to bring the same sense of civic pride to other cities and areas, and spun off the therethere brand to expand the idea to the rest of the country. Covering Seattle, Baltimore, Detroit, and several other cities across the United States, therethere serves the same purpose in other communities that it does in Oakland.

The company saw an opportunity to bring the same sense of civic pride to other cities and areas

 

The charity structure is slightly different, but the goal is the same: granting funds to organizations that exemplify innovation, progress, and of course civic pride. With therethere, many of the nonprofit recipients are chosen by the t-shirt artists themselves, which means the creators have a direct role in deciding how their work can benefit their community.

Looking Ahead

It’s pretty easy to see how a company like Oaklandish could expand and evolve their brand in the future, and the development of therethere is a great example of how this can be implemented. Perhaps there could even be an international venture on the horizon, with cities and artists around the world getting in on the action. It would be a great tie-in with social media and related technologies that bring people together on a global scale.

On the other hand, given Oaklandish’s history, it’s not safe to assume that things will always progress in a certain way. As the company grows ever larger, naturally those in charge of steering its direction will have to continually assess and modify their approach to that growth.

 

Perhaps the branches of the Oaklandish tree will spread well beyond what the company has done up until now,

The t-shirt business is so well-established and popular, it seems unlikely that they would ever abandon it entirely, but perhaps the branches of the Oaklandish tree will spread well beyond what the company has done up until now, and discover new ways to advance the cause of civic pride at a community level.