Daily Inspiration: Meet Steve Rosenstein

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Rosenstein.

Hi Steve, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Both of us Chicago transplants, Andi & I met in 1986 while I was peddling surf trunks for a SoCal surf wear designer “I was on the phone with my boss, and in walks Andi. She handed me her resume, and from that moment I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her” explains Steve.

Fast forward to 1988 when Andi & I decided to “jump” We created the Fitigues Clothing brand. This was nearly two decades before all the athleisure brands emerged. We’d spend the next two decades building our brand thru exclusive national retailers & independent specialty shops around the world. Our A-list of customers included Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Fred Segal, Barney’s NY, Galleries Lafayette-Paris, and Harrods of London just to name a few. Oprah loves Fitigues so much that she had us on her show twice!

In 2006, we were acquired by a large publicly held retailer and in 2007 decided to retire at the ripe old ages of 45 & 46. One day into retirement we decided we were going to strangle one another so we ventured into downtown Phoenix to see if the city had a soul. We happened upon a historic 1925 historic warehouse and purchased it just 3 months later.

That old vacant warehouse is now home to our beloved Duce which opened for business in 2010 where we actually opened our first R&R Surplus shop. Word traveled fast and in 2011 we were approached by Nordstrom and then the rest would follow… Neiman’s, Saks, Bloomingdales, Equinox, and all the other usual suspects would shelve the R&R brand.

In 2018 The Phoenician Luxury Collection invited us to open an R&R flagship and a year later The Montage Hotel in Laguna Beach would follow.

Andi still designs our women’s collection while Luke, our 25-year-old son designs men’s.

So much for early retirement!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When you sign up for entrepreneurship you better be ready for uphill climbs, sharp turns, detours, roadblocks, and the like.

From design to production, copycats to wannabees, capital to finance… lots of peaks & valleys! Excitement… fear… super highs-super lows & everything in between…. and that’s all before lunchtime!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think what’s always set Andi & me apart from the rest is inviting our customers into our lives… AKA brand personification. We walk our walk & talk our talk. We never pay attention to trends… rather, we set them. We make people comfortable thru the style/feel/familiarity of our clothes, warmth, integrity, store design, people,& environment, Hence our R&R tag-line “get comfortable” and The duce’s “where pretty meets gritty and prohibition meets produce”

Having grown up in Chicago in the sixties we’ve always paid homage to Americana style. We value things that are loved over time and that’s communicated thru both brands.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My mentors to this day are my wrestling coaches (I wrestled for the U of A) first boss and both our moms who said “jump!” while others said, “sit!”

Contact Info:

• Website: randrsurplus.com. theducephx.com
• Instagram: The Duce (@theduce)