PITTSBORO — The warehouse where Sierra Socks retails its goods online is tucked inside a building behind Pittsboro’s Fire Department, on Fayetteville Street.
From there, owner Veli Sevim sells socks and a selection of casual wear on a number of e-commerce sites.
“You might not even know we are here unless you happened to get turned around by the traffic circle and had to find your way back to Highway 64,” says Darla Sandoval, who, along with Sevim and warehouse manager Nehmet Goktan make the entirety of Sierra Socks’ workforce.
The company markets under two brands — Sierra Socks and Wear Sierra — and it’s in the warehouse where the team’s focus has been lately: A re-organization and a “non-stop cleaning” of the space to prepare for changes in the company’s sales strategies made Sandoval realize something.
“We discovered we had a lot of socks — and when I say we have a lot of socks, I mean there are a LOT of socks,” she said.
The unsold socks — thousands of pairs, she said, imported from Sevim’s home country of Turkey and made from high-quality moisture-wicking fibers — will go on sale over the weekend. Socks, most retailing for $10 or more a pair, will be sold at prices beginning at $1. The sale, at 136 Fayetteville St., will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, and will include some clothing items.
The ultimate objective of the two-day effort: making room for a bit of a re-set. Sierra Socks wants to eventually retail to the public on a regular basis, and with that resume a program it began in 2008: a “buy one, give one” charitable effort that will result in the donation of one pair of socks to Chatham’s homeless and aging population, and select nonprofits, for every pair sold.
The company’s motto is “Change Your Socks, Change Your World.” Owner Sevim imports products made by “earth/people friendly yarns” and created by artisans — many from his home country — who are trying to earn a fair wage for their work. The company has evolved over two decades from a private-label seller working directly with retail giants to a more direct-to-consumer business model.
“Making money is one thing,” Sandoval said, “but the way we’ll do it is pretty cool in that these socks, when you’re selling online, go for more than $10 a pair, just because of the quality. So we simply could put them on our website and list them and sell them at that price. But we’re really trying to make a focus on the community, on North Carolina, right? And help out folks — to get on to the ‘next thing’ that we want to do, with our give-back program.”
For information about the company, go to sierrasocks.com.