Case Study: noRep Boardshorts achieves profitable online growth and streamlined fulfillment with Shopify

noRep Boardshorts - Customer Case Study

noRep Boardshorts is a Honolulu-based surf apparel brand (founded 2012) that designs artist-driven boardshorts for morning surfers who don’t wear big-label gear. Facing the challenge of standing out against established brands and higher local sourcing costs, they produce shorts in China but source apparel locally through Lanakila Custom Products — a mission-driven partner that employs adults with intellectual disabilities, which raises costs but reinforces their values.

They built traction through grassroots marketing (seeding product to surfers), artist collaborations, and wholesale relationships with Hawaii surf shops while keeping an ecommerce site to control presentation and margins. On the operations side they streamlined accounting, inventory and shipping with apps like Lettuce, QuickBooks Online and stamps.com, self-fulfill from Hawaii, and now enjoy steady wholesale revenue, growing online profitability, and a loyal community that drives word-of-mouth growth.

noRep Boardshorts