Pride Factory Turns 15
Pride Factory is celebrating its 15th year all month long by giving back to the people who have made them successful all of these years- their customers. Every Thursday this month they will be doing a draw with 15 lucky winners receiving exciting prizes, including gift cards, movies, books and other store items.
The legendary emporium celebrates by giving back to customers
Pride Factory is celebrating its 15th year all month long by giving back to the people who have made them successful all of these years- their customers. Every Thursday this month they will be doing a draw with 15 lucky winners receiving exciting prizes, including gift cards, movies, books and other store items. They are also having an in-store reception on February 24 between 6 and 8 p.m.
All these years, Pride Factory has been the place to go to get your pride items, clothes, novelties, GLBT films, dance music and adult items. The large emporium started out on Federal Highway 15 years ago and moved to its current location on NE 13th Street four years ago.
“We moved to our new location in December 2006 and opened in September 2007,” said Pride Factory vice president Lori Deak explained.
Throughout its long history, the store has gone through many changes. When Deak and her husband, Matthew, took ownership 10 years ago, they expanded space and introduced a coffee shop at the former location. Now, at their new location, they have eliminated the coffee shop, but added much more in ways of products and clothes.
“Definitely the biggest changes throughout the years is the fact that Pride Factory has a great owner who loves the business and knows the importance of giving back to the community,” said general manager Rocky Bowell.
Deak said that they were nervous to leave their easy-to-spot location at first, but it ended up being a smart decision.
“It’s been better for us, with the expanded parking and we can offer so much more at the store,” Deak said. “Being closer to Wilton Drive has helped and we’ve seen some growth.”
Just a stones throw from ‘The Drive’, the new location began drawing a large variety of new customers to the store and previous customers continued to show loyalty by flocking to the store.
“It gave us exposure to people who weren’t familiar to us,” she said.
Pride Factory offers a one-stop location for your shopping needs. In addition to their large variety of novelty t-shirts, they offer brand name swimwear and underwear, a section full of adult items, hard-to-find GLBT interest films and books, greeting cards, jewelry and a large selection of music. And their variety of Pride items can’t be beat. You will definitely want to stop by for flags and t-shirts and other items since Pride season is right around the corner.
Deak said that she is always looking for fun and unique items to add to the store. They have recently expanded their greeting card section, so if you are looking for something fun and unusual for any occasion, they will have it.
She said that she thinks they offer the widest selection of items to please to diverse community.
“We try to meet all of our customers’ needs,” she explained.
When asked which product is the most popular, Bowell had a hard time choosing just one item.
“With thousands of products in the store its hard to pick one, but some of the best include the new Fleshjacks featuring Brent Everett and Pierre Fitch, any deep v-neck tees from Andrew Christian, the new 2011 Men’s Damon Guide and the new swimmer by Tulip has been a big hit,” he explained.
Deak said that she has a lot of plans for the future of Pride Factory. The company has launched a web page (www.pridefactory.com) and is on Facebook and Twitter and they are going to start a mailing list and offer coupons.
“We offer special promos on Facebook and Twitter,” she said.
Pride Factory also wants to continue participating in local events.
“We’ve always done local events, but we want to do even more,” Deak said.
