From mainstream to urban scene

Black Enterprise, Oct, 1995 by Cassandra Hayes

In 1993, when Derek Tucker tossed his position as president of Oaktree to the wind, some people thought he was jumping without a parachute.

Heading a $185 million company like Oaktree, one of the nation's largest men's clothing retail chains, would have kept many grounded in the executive suite, but Tucker was not convinced. "I was with the company for 19 years, and just for that reason alone, I decided to leave," says the 38-year-old Tucker.

But for the San Francisco native, who went from salesclerk to store manager to merchandiser to buyer before becoming president, there was an even more compelling reason to leave. His vision for Oaktree diverged from that of its parent, Edison Brothers Stores of St. Louis.

In 1989, Oaktree became a cash cow for Edison Brothers after Tucker introduced middle America to the hip-hop, street-inspired fashions of the Cross Colours clothing line. Oaktree's new hip, urban private label and designer apparel catered to a customer base that was 50% black and whose needs were previously ignored by retailers. (Oaktree spokesperson Judy Smith confirmed that 1989 was a record year for the chain.

But soon after this success, the men's clothing market became fickle. There was no clear-cut fashion trend as "street-chic" rallied with "Armani bridgewear." Edison Brothers abandoned its urban line, opting instead for the back-to-basics look of jeans and T-shirts. Sales plummeted. Tucker's suggestion to continue the fashion-forward thinking that made Oaktree so profitable hit a brick wall.

"[Edison Brothers] evaluated that we needed to be like the Gap," says Tucker, and I don't believe that anybody can out-gap the Gap." After leaving Oaktree in 1993, Tucker invested $40,000 in two personal ventures, one that included his own line of quality men's sportswear. The two ventures never got beyond the planning stage.

But what goes around comes around. Last year Karl Kani, formerly a partner with Cross Colours, went out on his own. Kani remembered Tucker, who had given Cross Colours its first million-dollar order, and brought him on board.

Now president of the $43 million dollar Los-Angeles-based Karl Kani Infinity (No. 38 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100), Tucker has taken his extensive retail experience and plugged it into the wholesale clothing arena.

With 14 employees, Tucker mixes small company intimacy with large corporate customer service. That means making sure every customer and vendor is treated with respect. "Many of the people in this business are not honest," says Tucker. "Instead of telling salespeople they are just not interested in the clothing line," he adds, "the retailer dodges their phone calls. This is how salespeople make their living. If they call me, they'll get me.

Even though African Americans spend more than $20 billion on clothing each year, Tucker says there is a dearth of African American designers and manufacturers in the retail industry. Even more discouraging, he adds, is that companies that target and get much of their revenues from the African American community fail to acknowledge this fact. "They think by doing so, they will ostracize their mainstream customers." At Karl Kani Infinity, Tucker says he can now acknowledge his true customer, and at the same time help build what he predicts will be the premier African American clothing company in the country.