General Pants Co.

General Pants Co. (also known as "General Pants") is an Australian fashion retailer operating across ACT, NSW, TAS, VIC, QLD, SA and WA that sells both international and national brands. The retailer specialises in streetwear, denim, skate clothing and surfwear. As of April 2014, the company operates 56 stores.[3]

General Pants Co.
IndustryFashion retail
HeadquartersSydney, Australia
Number of locations
56
ProductsClothing, footwear, eyewear, accessories[1][2]
Websitewww.generalpants.com.au

History

General Pants Company was originally conceived and started by Tom and Bronwyn Tsipris on 20 April 1972. They opened their first store on George Street Wynyard, Sydney and grew the chain to 20 stores throughout the Sydney metropolitan and regional areas. In addition to General Pants, they purchased the Surf Dive 'n' Ski (NSW) chain in 1979 which they expanded and ran in conjunction with the General Pants stores. On 1 December 1995 they sold the General Pants stores to the Smorgon Group. The Surf Dive’n Ski stores were later sold to the Smorgon / Jetty Surf Group in 2005, and were later sold to Billabong. The international company acquired the retail stores, numbering 38 at the time of sale, for "$35 to $45 million"[4] on 1 November 2010—two licensed Billabong stores were also included as part of the sale.[5]

The brand entered into a partnership with the Peer Group Media company in 2010 to launch the Major Label music initiative. As of April 2013, Major Label is a record label that is wholly owned by General Pants Co., and allows artists to maintain ownership of copyright, retain full creative control and receive all of the royalty income that is generated through digital music sales.[6] The label only releases singles and the staff of General Pants Co. act as the label's talent scouts and promoters—artists have been invited to submit their demo recordings at General Pants Co. retail store locations. Guineafowl, Circle Pit and High Highs were the first three acts that signed deals with the label, and Sydney band Buzz Kull were chosen in the May–June 2013 period.[7][8][9]

Controversy

In 2011, the company published a racy poster advertisement depicting a scantily clad woman with another person's hands unzipping her pants.[10] The Australian Advertising Standards Bureau logged 37 complaints about the advertisement.[10] The company later censored the posters after consumer complaints, covering parts of the posters.[11] Also during this time, the company was criticised for forcing its store employees to wear badges stating "I love sex" and for using naked mannequins in its stores.[11] After consumer complaints, the company covered the mannequins in their stores, but continued to have employees wear the "I love sex" badges.[11] Some female store employees expressed disapproval of being made to wear the badges, with one referring to it as "inappropriate", and another stating that she felt "uncomfortable" wearing the badge, finding it "embarrassing" and "demeaning".[11]

References
  1. "Mens". General Pants Co. General Pants. 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  2. "Womens". General Pants Co. General Pants. 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  3. (Staff writers) (18 July 2011). "General Pants moves into Perth". PerthNow. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  4. Ooi, Teresa (2 October 2010). "Surfwear retailer Billabong in $35m General Pants deal". The Australian. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  5. Eli Greenblat (2 October 2010). "Billabong snaps up Surf Dive 'n' Ski, Jerry Surf stores". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  6. "General Pants Co. Partners With Peer Group Media To Launch Major Label". Peer Group. Peer Group Media. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  7. "Major Label Signs Mildlife". Sounds of Oz. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  8. "GENERAL PANTS CHAMPIONS SINGLES WITH MAJOR LABEL". Sounds of Oz. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  9. "Major Label – Our Winners". General Pants Co. General Pants. May–June 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  10. "Galleries: Most complained about ads of 2011". The Australian. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  11. Speranza, Laura (8 May 2011). "Youth retailer General pants in strife over 'I love sex badges', naked mannequins". Herald Sun. Retrieved 29 October 2013.

Further reading
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