Kenny Borg is a simple-minded kinda guy: straight forward, amiable, and holds Long Beach in high esteeem. And his two business partners, Nick Brucculeri and Luke Monteleone, are much of the same. In fact, they’re beyond amiable; they’re flat-out down-to-earth people who simply want to bring their love of design, printing, and entrepreneurship to the growing strip of shopping that is becoming Broadway Avenue in Belmont Heights.
And while “printing is by far the money-maker” according to University of Redlands alum Nick, they decided to turn their business space into a multi-use shop/business center.
The front—a clean, nautical-ed out store—is Long Beach Cotton, featuring their own clothes as well as clothes they make for clients through their printing company, Decade Screen Printing, which is housed in the back.
Kenny, born in Long Beach, opted to bring his screen printing business he started with Nick back home after successfully running a store at Fresno State. “They almost kicked us out,” Kenny explained with a mischievous grin. “We printed a buncha shirts that said ‘Buck Foise’ after a game. They sold out like that.”
Their playful manner comes out in their printing designs: colorful but lacks the American Apparel-like overdose of the RGB spectrum while also being smart but not pretentious.
Luke, having graduated recently from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is hoping this concept–contemporary, masculine clothing–will appeal to a larger e-commerce-based audience as well as to the foot traffic they hope to garner on Broadway. “I come from an event planning background so my focus is outreach, outreach, outreach,” he explained, having nabbed printing clients through his event experience.
Having just opened a few weeks ago, they have a long trek in front of them. However, if they play their cards right, they might just become a Long Beach staple.
Long Beach Cotton and Decade Screen Printing are located at 2769 E. Broadway Avenue. For more information, visit their website, www.longbeachcotton.com, or follow them on Instagram @longbeachcotton.
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