Founded: 2008 Location: Laguna Beach, Calif. Industry: Consumer products Number of Employees: four 2008 Revenue: $169,000
Company Vitals: Designs, manufacturers and sells men's shoes online, at Amazon.com and Zappos.com, and through 100 U.S. retailers, including Nordstrom.
Ori Rosenbaum, Founder, 46: Started an auto-parts retailer out of high school. Followed with a new automobile stereo equipment company. Later launched Omicron Technologies, a packaging and shipping consultancy; clients included Apple, Sony and Hewlett-Packard. Along the way spotted a need for stylish, functional men's shoes. Enjoys racing cars.
Auri Footwear Acquires Public Company in Reverse Merger
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Laguna Beach-based Auri Design Group, LLC. ("Auri") dba Auri Footwear - announced today that it has taken control of publicly traded company Wellstone Filter Sciences, Inc. (OTCBB: WFSN) via a reverse merger.
Auri Shoes for sale at Nordstrom's WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quinnradio's Visit to the "AURI Footwear" Offices in Laguna Beach CA on 3.4.11
One Word "Wow!" Real Company... Real Product... Real CEO!!
I Stopped by the Auri Footwear Offices in Laguna Beach this past Friday 3.4.11 and met most of the crew. Including the CEO, The head female Designer and a couple other folks... They were very busy... running around and on conference calls etc. but insisted that I have one of the fresh cupcakes they had brought to the offices that morning...Haha! I declined but they were way to delicious looking for me to not break down eventually have one...
I spoke personally to Auri CEO and President Ori Rosenbaum who was not only friendly, open and kind but obviously passionate, dynamic and ready to take on the world... It's been awhile since I've looked into the eyes of the head of a company and seen the kind of passion that this gentleman obviously has for the future of Auri Footwear.
I'm VERY serious when I say... THIS COMPANY IS GOING PLACES FOLKS I'm Sure of it... We spoke about the differences in Women and Men as far as buying shoes are concerned... Someone mentioned to me that on the Average women buy approximately 6-8 pairs of shoes PER YEAR! The displays we're filled with Amazing Womens Shoes and although he couldn't say anything specific obviously, I could tell that Auri has great plans for the near future and specifically their Womens lines... When I got home I asked a few of my female friends how many shoes they bought on average per year they all said more than 10 pairs!!! HaHa!
I was very impressed at the "Retail Store" side of the offices, more specifically the incredible diversity of products they had out to view and try on...
Laguna Beach is no slouch when it comes to expensive Retail Space and they had at least a couple thousand Square feet in Retail and Office space right at 1200 North Coast Highway just a short jaunt from the Center of Downtown Laguna Beach...
I asked him about The (tongue-in-cheek) Short Film that they'd produced (The video can be viewed on the Auri YouTube channelhttp://www.youtube.com/AuriFootwear) Saying that my buddy had seen it and recognized some of the shots as the Cliffs in Malibu CA. and the CEO confirmed that my friend was correct...
"Our products and brand positioning are spot-on and with access to the public markets, we hope to be able to take advantage of opportunities and execute strategic growth initiatives that we've previously had to pass up."
I smell BIG outside investors circling the company ready to get a piece here... I think we've got a Monster in the Making ladies and gentleman... I'm incredibly excited at the future... It's not often that you come across a Company like Auri who reverse merges into a shell because They know what's best for them... It's the Great American Way!!!
I feel very lucky to have come across this company WITH NO IHUB PUMP, PROMO PLANS, or Intangible or inaccessible Company or PRODUCTS This is OLD SCHOOL NETWORKING HERE... I'm very excited...
Image from inside the Auri Footwear Head Quarters in Laguna Beach CA.
Shoe designer and Orange Counties own Auri Inc. WFSN has gone public by reverse merging its Laguna Beach based business into a public shell on the OTCBB Exchange. Auri is looking forward to the growth and liquidity that the capital markets often provide these emerging companies .
Auri, which has created a buzz with its shoes, see's being a publicly traded company as a great means to raise capital towards it's expansion for 2011 and beyond.
Late last month, Auri took control of Wellstone Filter Sciences Inc. in a reverse merger and is currently trading under the ticker WFSN.OB on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board exchange.
Auri Chief Executive Ori Rosenbaum said. "I wanted to make sure that we didn't run out of capital resources," In discussing the strategic move he added "The worst thing is to have a product going gangbusters and not be able to supply it or do those things to support it from a branding and marketing perspective."
Auri sells casual and dress shoes for men and women. The shoes are sold at Nordstrom, Fred Segal as well as many other stores listed on the companies website www.aurifootwear.com. The company has more than 150 retail accounts. Rosenbaum said he's looking to add more than 50 new accounts to the rapidly growing list of vendors of the Auri line by the end of the spring season.
Forbes Nod
The Orange County Company attracted the attention of Forbes magazine in 2009 when Forbes named Auri as one of the country's most promising new companies to watch. Rosenbaum wouldn't disclose annual sales or offer a sales projection for this year. When he spoke with the Business Journal in late 2009, the company had sales of less than $1 million and was just beginning to turn a profit. Auri's men's shoes sell for $125 to $285. Women's shoes start at $145 and go up to $400.
Being publically traded gives Auri the chance to raise money through the sale of stock , according to Rosenbaum. The company opted to go that route instead of raising money privately through investors. "The one thing about a private placement is that it's a one and done," Rosenbaum said. "Private placement may have given us a chunk of money and taken a piece of ownership, but when we obtained that growth, we would have had to go back out again to investors."
Rosenbaum points to Vernon-based jeans maker True Religion Apparel Inc., which used a reverse merger as a cost-effective way to go public. In 2003, True Religion jeans, (then named Guru Denim) reversed merged with the public company "Gusana Explorations" on the very same Over the Counter Exchange that Auri is now traded on. Subsequently Gusana, now under the direction of True Religions Chairman Jeffery Lubell, changed it's name to True Religion Jeans. Seeing great growth on that exchange True Religion soon met the up-listing requirements for the Nasdaq , the 2nd largest electronic securities market in the world in 2005. True Religion's stock price went from under $1 a share to over $20 per share in a matter of months having a recent Market valuation of nearly 600 million dollars. Auri's move mirrors True Religion's path to the Nasdaq where Rosenbaum plans to eventually land.
Company Start
In 2007, Rosenbaum started Auri with trendy yet comfortable shoes for men. An Auri shoe line for women debuted last spring. Rosenbaum said he wants Auri to be a "reciprocal brand" that wins over women and prompts them to persuade their husbands or boyfriends to buy its men's shoes.
Like any new company the past four years have been an uphill battle through a recession. "The challenges were nothing short of overwhelming," Rosenbaum said. "Nobody could have foretold what was going to happen. Because we were a new brand, it was exponentially more challenging." The economy forced Rosenbaum to make cuts across his business. He renegotiated terms of his office and warehouse leases, and reworked contracts with his legal and public relations teams. Auri is looking to expand sales to stores in other countries. Rosenbaum recently hired an East Coast sales representative and now is working with a distributor in Canada. The goal is to get into Europe and Asia. "There's a lot of potential out there," Rosenbaum said. "If we play our cards right and create that brand, I think we're going to be a very good contender."
February 28, 2011 09:20 AM Eastern Time
Auri Footwear Acquires Public Company in Reverse Merger
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Laguna Beach-based Auri Design Group, LLC. ("Auri") dba Auri Footwear - announced today that it has taken control of publicly traded company Wellstone Filter Sciences, Inc. (OTCBB: WFSN) via a reverse merger.
"Auri is an incredible brand that has the potential to revolutionize the footwear industry. The products have already proven to be highly successful at retail and we are very impressed with Auri's management team."
The agreement closed February 25, 2011 and resulted in Auri Footwear becoming a public company. The name of the company will be changed to "Auri, Inc." As a result of the reverse merger, the previous owners of Auri now own and control the majority of the common stock of Wellstone Filter Sciences, replacing the current management with an Auri management team. Auri CEO and President Ori Rosenbaum will remain with the company in the same role. Auri selected a reverse merger rather than a traditional IPO in order to avoid the heavier costs and extended timeframe usually associated with a traditional IPO process.
"We believe this company is poised for the type of growth that would simply outpace an organically funded venture of this scale," stated Ori Rosenbaum, CEO and President of Auri. "Our products and brand positioning are spot-on and with access to the public markets, we hope to be able to take advantage of opportunities and execute strategic growth initiatives that we've previously had to pass up."
"It's a great day for our shareholders," stated Wellstone's CEO L. Jeremiah Hand. "Auri is an incredible brand that has the potential to revolutionize the footwear industry. The products have already proven to be highly successful at retail and we are very impressed with Auri's management team."
Founded in 2007 and debuting with men's footwear in 2008, Auri opened some of the best boutique retailers in its first two years of operations. After early success in the men's category, Auri incorporated performance technology and trend-right style into a women's fashion category, which is launching into retail next month. The company's innovative design philosophy and solid business fundamentals earned Auri the #8 spot on Forbes Magazine's 2009 "America's Most Promising Companies" list and was the only footwear, fashion or apparel brand to make the list.
Auri recently released its first brand movie - a three-minute tongue in cheek presentation showcasing the revolutionary marriage of form and function within the world of women's fashion footwear.
Auri designs and markets fashion footwear for men and women, fused with performance engineering, innovative designs and advanced technical materials. Crafted with Italian leathers and hand burnished finishes, the products incorporate a seamless fusion of next level technologies including active suspension systems, compression control and anti-fatigue, removable foot beds, Outlast® temperature regulating linings, Liquicell® ultra-thin liquid-filled interface technology, and encapsulated gel technologies.
Hey folks... Put Auri on your radars for me... Any feed back about the shoes (Men's or Womens is appreciated... AURI's "Chloe" "Jude" and "Layla" ON THE RUNWAY MONDAY NIGHT AT THE Directives West Fashion Show in LA!!!
06.08.2011 (653 Days Ago)
