Though they look like your average 18-year-olds, Nicholas Timmins and Maxence Guerin are entrepreneurs. Last year, the two launched a clothing line, 514 Avenue, which they qualify as the “city’s style.”
Timmins recounted the inspiration for the business: “It was a hot summer day, and we were just chilling at a cafe trying to figure out how to make big money quickly.” They both agreed that street wear would be a great way to generate profit, and 514 Avenue was born.
Each put in $900 in start-up capital and started looking for shirt and hoodie suppliers, settling on American Apparel because of its quality.
They designed a logo around a trace of the island of Montreal and colours reminiscent of the metro lines’ colours.
“Almost everyone in Montreal takes the metro. It is symbolic of Montreal,” said Timmins. Their target market is 17 to 25 year-old “rap-oriented” urban dressers.
They started advertising through Facebook and MySpace, as well as their respective CEGEPs, and business began to roll in.
The pair’s philosophy is that if a customer notices everyone else wearing the same shirt, they won’t feel compelled to buy it. “We are continuously looking for new artists to draw logos for us,” said Timmins.
So far, things are going well. “We have made roughly $2,000, which is not bad considering that we’ve only started in September with two designs, and no retail stores to help us with our sales,” said Timmins.
Their line was featured in a fashion show at House nightclub on March 1, an event meant to bring together the city’s fashion designers in order to raise money for the Montreal Charity Foundation.
To learn more about the company, go to www.514avenue.com
