Local streetwear brand Utmost Co. has opened a store in Manchester, which comes several years after the company shuttered a store in the Arts District. (Photos courtesy Utmost Co.)
After it closed on Broad Street several years ago, a homegrown skate shop is relaunching as a brick-and-mortar concept south of the river.
Utmost Co., which sells T-shirts and hoodies as well hats and accessories, opened a new store at 1312 Bainbridge St. late last month.
The shop is a return to the world of brick-and-mortar for Utmost after a period of operating as an online retailer. Owner Jermaine Edwards said he was inspired to open a new store to fill what he sees as a need in Richmond.
“I feel like Richmond as a whole was missing a community where people could go. That’s how it was with our shop back in the day, a place for the homies to hang out,” he said of his former Broad Street spot, where Utmost had operated for a few years until 2020.
A decade after launching the brand, Edwards said he’s also more focused this time around on growth in Richmond, rather than trying to be an industry player beyond its hometown.
“When we first started the brand, we wanted the brand to be seen outside the city,” the 38-year-old said. “Now that I’m a little bit older, I see the brand as something for the city, not the world.”
And while Utmost has also become more focused on being an streetwear fashion brand than a skate shop, Edwards said he intends to bring skateboards back to the shop’s inventory. He plans to hold events like art shows, retail pop-ups and musical performances. He said he could tap into the professional network he’s cultivated over the years to bring in out-of-town retailers for pop-ups, and musical acts from other cities for performances.
Utmost Co. was founded in 2011 and sells clothing as well as accessories like hats and water bottles.
Utmost’s new shop is a 1,000-square-foot space at the corner of Bainbridge and East 14th Street. The storefront was formerly occupied by cookware seller Accoutre, which closed there in August but said in social media posts around that time it intended to reopen in a new location.
Utmost formerly operated a store at 115 W. Broad St. in the Arts District. That store opened in 2014 and operated for six years until it shuttered early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Edwards said the economic disruptions of the time prompted the decision to close and focus on digital sales.
Utmost also formerly had a store in Los Angeles, which closed in 2019. Edwards, now the sole owner of Utmost, founded the business with Tom Hart in 2011.