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By Rory Carroll
Oregon Daily Emerald
Know what you sell, and sell
what you know. That’s the age
old business mantra that the
three young entrepreneurs be
hind Cornerstone are hoping
will fuel their up-and-coming
apparel company.
The company is the brain
child of Austin Yoshino, Randy
Embemate and Kulani Jones,
and the three students need
only look at each other to catch
a glimpse of the audience they
hope will eventually flock to
buy their surfing, skiing and
snowboarding clothing.
But it takes money to make
money, another business
mantra. Luckily, the people at
Cornerstone have come up with
a creative way to raise the
much-needed start-up funds. So
by doubling as an entertainment
company and throwing concerts
to raise money for the compa
ny’s initial capital, they can
spread their name to their target
audience and rake in a little
cash at the same time.
It s this kind of innovative
business strategy that Universi
ty management instructor
Randy Swangard thinks young
companies need to explore if
they hope to contend in today’s
competitive business climate.
Swangard, who teaches an en
trepreneurship class, said that
understanding the market that
you are targeting is an essential
ingredient to succeeding in
business.
Hailing from different islands
in Hawaii, the three entrepre
neurs met at the University and
realized they had much in com
mon. Jones is an avid long
board surfer and all three snow
board and skateboard. Jones,
Cornerstone’s marketing direc
tor, feels that knowing these
sports is what will propel them
to success.
“These other companies that
are big, they don’t know what’s
going on. Cornerstone is about
knowing what people want and
being unique,” Jones said.
The group is not interested in
being trendy because trends
don’t last, Yoshino said. Instead,
they want to deliver a quality
product to the people who actu
ally play the sports the clothing
is intended for.
“Guys that don’t even snow
board wear snowboarding
clothes because it has become
so commercialized,” Yoshino
said.
“We’re out to keep it real,”
Embemate added.
Embemate and Jones point to
Yoshino and his artistic abilities
as a strength of the company.
“We’ve got a great artist right
here,” Jones said about Yoshino.
“He comes up with unique,
awesome designs all the time.”
That creativity also played
into choosing a name for the
new company. Yoshino and Em
bemate deliberated for quite
some time about choosing the
right name. They bounced
names off each other throughout
last summer.
“I thought the name should
be the cornerstone of the com
pany,” Yoshino said. And that’s
when he realized the perfect
name was staring him right in
the face.
So with a catchy name and a
budding new business, it was
time to tackle the marketing is
sue. And the three decided the
entertainment angle would be
the way to go.
Yoshino, Embemate and
Jones are confident that they
have a good understanding of
what kind of music their target
audience likes in addition to
knowing what they like to wear.
“When I walk around town
and I see people skating, they fit
into a certain trend and they lis
ten to a certain type of music,”
Jones said. “I know that when
we come out with our clothing,
those are the kind of people that
are going to be looldng for it.
That's what we are going to be
putting on April 20, a concert
geared to that type of person.”
The Wild Duck show will be
chock-full of adrenaline-pump
ing acts, including the Courtesy
Clerks, Easy Target and Com
pact 56. Kyle Guyer, drummer
for Easy Target, describes his
band’s sound as “New-school
pop-punk” with a rock ‘n’ roll
influence.
Name recognition is a top pri
ority for Cornerstone, and every
flyer promoting the upcoming
show sports the name and their
logo, along with action shots of
surfers, slaters and snowboard
ers. The guys said they think
they will continue putting on
concerts when their clothes are
in stores.
“There is always a need for
marketing, from the smallest
business to the biggest busi
ness,” Jones said. He said he
feels that entertainment is an
overlooked marketing tool.
As for their ultimate goal,
Jones said that he would like to
see the company name go
through other states and coun
tries.
Fate will decide if the appar
el company will sink or swim,
but Cornerstone has already
planned their second concert
event — a reggae show, slated
for May 4 at the Wild Duck. Nat
ural Vibrations will headline
that evening.
For now, Cornerstone is
working on expanding its in
ventory, putting together a cata
log for mail orders and negotiat
ing with local retailers to carry
their apparel.
“Hopefully the outcome of
these two concerts will be that
our products will be a lot more
visible and a lot more available
to people,” Jones said.
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A & E briefs
Several exhibits are on display
at the University of Oregon Mu
seum of Natural History, 1680 E.
15th Ave.
Exhibits include “Archaeology
of Oregon,” “Backyard Birds,”
“Clues to an Unknown Culture,”
“Living Traditions,” “Visions of
the Dreamtime: The Art and
Myth of Aboriginal Australia,”
and an articulated La Brea Tar
Pits saber-toothed cat.
Museum hours are noon to 5
p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
There is a $2 suggested donation,
though admission is free for Uni
versity students and museum
members. For information call
346-3024.
“Mingqi: Early Chinese Funer
ary Ceramics” is currently one of
the featured exhibits at the Muse
um of Art, located at 1430 John
son Lane. The exhibit includes a
selection of Chinese funerary
tomb figures from the Han Dy
nasty (202 B.C. - 220 A.D.)
through the Tang Dynasty (618 -
906 A.D.).
In the museum’s Chinese Im
perial Throne Room, the public
can view works from the muse
um’s collection of Imperial ob
jects from the Qing Dynasty, in
cluding textiles, furniture, glass,
ceramics and the largest jade
pagoda outside China.
The museum also features the
newly renovated Preble-Murphy
Wing of Japanese Art, including
a changing print gallery with tra
ditional wood block prints. A
second gallery offers highlights
from the collections including
Buddhist sculp true, textiles, ce
ramics, metalwork, hanging
scrolls and painted screens.
Museum hours are noon to 8
p.m. Wednesday, and noon to 5
p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
There is a $3 suggested admis
sion charge, though admission is
free for students, University em
ployees and children, and muse
um members. For more informa
tion, call 346-3027.
Art museum plans discussed
David Robertson, the Universi
ty of Oregon Museum of Art di
rector, will present an update on
the museum’s plans fo a major
epxansion in a speech at 6 p.m.
April 26 at the museum, 1430
Johnson Lane.
The talk, “Museum Without
Walls: An Update on the UOMA
Capital Project,” will cover the
building plans and give an
overview of activities that will be
implemented while the building
is closed.
3_ _ ^ ||686-2458
492 E. 13th Ave
www.Dijou-cinemas.com
■ Film Fast Calendar at the TL
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