The Store Tour and More

Hey all!

It's been a crazy Month of May. Here is our most epic blog yet to come as a young company:

First Friday

It has been a long time coming since we have blogged. It has been one of the craziest months of our business's operations as well as our whole lives. We started off the month with First Friday, where we debuted our collaboration tees with artist Ray Gurz (featured at Loose Threads Boutique) and artist Dane S. Thompson DST (featured at Homebase Skate Shop). It was one of the coolest days ever. Both artists had their art galleries at both stores, which were directly across the street from each other. Try to imagine the commotion of that night (and the after-party!). Take a look at the two rad tees below:

"Ray Gurz Collab Tee" in white

"DST Collab Tee/Tank" as featured on the Spring/Summer 2011 Lookbook

New Jersey Store Tour

The weekend after First Friday was spent with our mothers for a few days of appreciation as well as a few days of rest for the NJ Store Tour that would partake from May 11-12th. We started our travels in Long Branch, NJ at Branded Surf and Skate early Wednesday morning and ended all the way down in Wildwood, NJ at Wild Ocean Surf Shop late Thursday afternoon. We had an insanely SUCCESSFUL trip! Sharing our story with 25 different shop owners from all parts of the Jersey coast was one amazing experience. We are pumped with our successes as we will be shearing our wears in more than a handful of new stores after this busy Memorial Day Weekend. Stay tuned for the dealer information as they will be posted on our site (www.simplyanti.com) in the near future. For a brief documentary of our travels, check out the short below:

Red Bull Many Mania

Right after the Store Tour, we hopped on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry to hit Delaware and begin our senior week in Ocean City, Maryland. We couldn't have been more amped to celebrate our experience by celebrating with our senior class and getting lucky enough to score some surf. It wasn't until Saturday, May 21, that we were back on track in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to root on team riders Benjamin Taylor and Anthony Jordan Rodgers in the Red Bull Manny Mania at the Skate Plaza. Ben rocked the event taking on 3rd place!!! He was competing with riders from Red Bull, ERGO, and many other big names. We are so pumped on Ben and his victory. We were also lucky enough to pick up new team rider Brandon Sandt who was a semi-finalist at the event. Stay tuned for Brandon's footage and biography on the website in the near future.

Ben Taylor (Bethlehem) finishes 3rd behind Spencer Brown (Maryland) and Timothy Fulton (New Jersey). This photo was taken by Tom Flores from Red Bull Skating.

STAY STRANGE

This is the GIANT recap of the month of May. We are pumped on all of our successes, stories, and experiences. We would like to thank Andy Po, Laura Jasorka, Dane S. Thompson, Ray Gurz, David Chrobuck, Zach Bloom, Kyle Arcamano and the Red Bull Crew, all store owners along the coast of New Jersey, and of course our mothers for giving us these big hearts that keep us driving for more and spreading the strange. Stay tuned for news on the Gallery Bar in NYC...