Be Walmart, Not Supreme

 

“[People were] trying to be like Supreme, like sell out of everything. And I was always like I just want to be like Walmart. Walmart makes way more than Supreme,” Duncan said.

These days, more brands are running limited-edition drops to sell their products. But not Duncan. His merch isn’t dropped in limited quantities to create a sense of scarcity. Rather, his designs are restocked annually with funny one-liners and jokes that speak to a market beyond Duncan’s followers.

It’s a big reason why, in 2019, Duncan paved the way for creators to sell their merchandise at retail locations with his Zumiez debut. Smaller creators have even reached out to Duncan to thank him, saying without him their path to retail distribution would be non-existent.

Duncan’s manager Stefan Toler was instrumental in making the Zumiez partnership possible. “The first weekend we crashed the site,” Toler said when reflecting on their first weekend in Zumiez in 2019. “We launched on a Friday and on Monday the executives were like ‘What the hell just happened?’ And that’s when we started seeing a lot more traction.”

Since then, Duncan’s retail presence has expanded rapidly into nearly 2,000 physical locations, now including Tilly’s, Spencer’s and even a collaboration with Hooters. To date, they’ve estimated gross product sales over $150 million with Duncan and Toler showing no signs of slowing down.