By Barbara Ellestad/MLN
The idea for his product came from watching people on the beaches of southern California as the sun was setting and the air was chilling.
“As a breeze started blowing in from the ocean, I saw a woman wrap herself in a blanket to keep warm,” Marcus Bender said. “That’s when I got the inspiration to design a wrap that people could take to the beach with them and use to keep warm.”
Bender recently moved his business, Nordic Beach, from Los Angeles to Mesquite and is quite pleased with his new community. “I didn’t ‘settle’ on Mesquite,” he said. “I chose Mesquite as my new location because I admire the cleanliness of the town and how nice it is and all of the people I’ve met.”
Nordic Beach apparel is sold online and in boutiques and department stores across the nation. The wrap is made of elegantly soft and fluffy polyester with pockets on each side and a hood. While the sleeves are wide enough at the top to fit over any clothing, the extra long cuffs keep the fabric out of the way.
Bender designed the wrap primarily as beachwear but it’s classy and comfortable enough to wear any place day or night. The one-size-fits-all style goes well with bathing suits or dressy pants.
Nordic Beach is located on Pioneer Boulevard, two doors down from the old cinema theater. “We originally were going to purchase the old theater building, but necessary renovations would have taken too long for us,” Bender said. “So, we ended up purchasing this building that has Keller Williams real estate and Edward Jones Investments in it. We’ll be using the rest of the building for our distribution and office spaces.”
While his product is manufactured overseas, most of the distribution to merchant outlets and online purchasers will take place in Mesquite.
“We’re getting ready for our fall shipments and need to hire about five or six people full-time in the next month or so,” Bender said. “We need a couple people to process orders but more importantly we need office workers who are good at spreadsheets and tracking orders and payments.”
Boxes of the Nordic Beach wrap are stacked throughout the rooms on the first floor of his building along with most of the basement area. The wraps come in a multitude of colors from Exotic Violet to Red Velvet to Grey Kitten. They come packaged in a well-constructed zippered pouch that can be re-used and carried to the beach or the mountains.
Bender developed the name of his product to combine both the idea of cold, as in Nordic, with the idea of beach wear.
He worked in the clothing industry in southern California for more than 20 years living one block off the famous Rodeo Drive. He spent three years in Henderson before moving to Mesquite. “I didn’t see a good future in California and decided to move to Nevada. When we decided to buy our own building, we looked around Henderson but everything was so expensive.
“We took a drive up here to check out a couple places and just really liked Mesquite as soon as we saw it. We can be based just about anywhere because we sell our products nation-wide. I think there’s a lot of good things in Mesquite’s future. It seems poised to really take off in the next few years,” Bender said.
To check out Nordic Beach apparel, visit www.nordicbeachapparel.com.
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