BEHIND the BRANDS
Daybreak Game Company Add together the gross revenues of Hollywood and the music industry, and that total is still smaller than that of the gaming industry. Daybreak is a heavyweight in multiplayer games. With big-name titles like DC Universe Online , Everquest , Lord of the Rings Online , Dungeons and Dragons Online , and Magic the Gathering Online , the company creates sci-fi alterna- worlds for players to explore (for a price).
Cool-jams What if there was no cool side of the pillow because both sides stayed chilly? Anita Maha ff ey’s deep struggle with sleep motivated her to establish Cool- jams in 2007. Humans sweat when we slumber. Her pillows and sleepwear are made of an innovative microfiber fabric that pulls that moisture away from the skin, disperses it faster across a greater surface, and conducts airflow for evaporation, equaling sweet dreams and dreamy profits. COOLA Suncare Chris Birchy was a beach bum, bartender, professional painter, branding agency creative, and highly successful online gambler. Then he started toying with the idea for an organic, sustainable sunscreen. When both his parents were diagnosed with skin cancer, it became a calling. He created COOLA Suncare in his garage in 2007, replacing potentially harmful ingredients (like parabens) with plant cells. COOLA now has a massive facility in Oceanside.
Reef Argentine brothers Fernando and Santiago Aguerre founded their casual sandal company in 1984, focusing primarily on surf culture. They sold to Rockport in 2018 (for a reported $139 million), and, since then, the Carlsbad-based company has taken o ff by broadening product lines to include shoes, slippers, and the like. Keep an eye on their Encinitas store, which is the start of a massive retail expansion. AleSmith Brewing Company AleSmith Brewing Company makes great beer, but so do a lot of brewers. Arguably, the big move that cemented them in the San Diego market came in 2014 with their Pale Ale .394. A collaboration with the family of late Padres legend Tony Gwynn, the beer is named after his highest batting average. A portion of proceeds go to the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation. Salty Crew Ocean-centric culture has sustained many San Diego brands through the years, from Rusty and Matuse to Saint Archer Brewing (RIP). Salty Crew was started in 2014 by brothers Jared and Hayden Lane and their friends Milo Myers and CJ Hobgood (a pro surfer). Their t-shirts are in seemingly every surf shop and on every back now. Their goal was to get kids into the water—“Salty” stands for “salvaging a lifestyle for tomorrow’s youth.” Australian surf and skate firm Globe International now owns 50 percent.
Knockaround Luxury sunnies brands go for high markups, when, in reality, almost all sunglasses—department store or liquor store—are made from the same plastic in the same warehouse. Adam “Ace” Moyer called BS on that arbitrary profit margin, launching Knockaround Sunglasses in 2005 with an eye for creativity, authenticity, and, most importantly, a ff ordability. What they lost on markup, they gained in sheer sales. Knockaround is about to truly take o ff after recently inking deals with both the NFL and NHL. Abcepta Ask the layest of laypeople what industries San Diego is known for, and they’ll say “biotech.” It’s our big deal. One of the main raw materials for biotech is antibodies. Abcepta is one of the country’s leading developers of antibodies for drug development and academic labs. They focus on major research areas, including cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular health, neuroscience, and stem cell therapies.
79 SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker