San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
A GRUNT STYLE RECKONING.
Brand’s move from its rowdy past like ‘reality T
Daniel Alarik was an Army drill sergeant when he began making T-shirts and selling them from the trunk of his Nissan Rogue while stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2009. His merchandise glorified America and military “grunt” culture, and it was caustically funny — as far from “politically correct” as he could get.
Alarik had no business experience, but he had plenty of entrepreneurial zeal. And his timing was flawless.
He started what would become Grunt Style, a militarythemed apparel brand, as populist anger boiled over during the Great Recession. The federal government bailed out banks deemed “too big to fail,” but mostly left struggling homeowners to fend for themselves.
Alarik’s snarky T-shirts were a tonic for the aggrieved, and they tapped into the country’s post9/11 warrior culture.
Emblazoned on one of the company’s most popular shirts, a stick figure conveys the message “(Expletive) your feelings.”
Grunt Style grew wildly. Leaders at the privately held company, which Alarik, 38, moved from the Chicago area to San Antonio in 2018, say annual sales have topped $100 million.
But the brand’s explosive growth outstripped Alarik’s ability to manage it, resulting in a cash crunch that nearly destroyed the company in 2018. After selling an ownership stake to stay in business, Alarik was ousted as CEO in February.
On Oct. 2, he sued the company he founded, alleging it had violated his employment contract. He’s seeking between $250,000 and $1 million.
“We made a ton of mistakes,” he said in an interview two days before filing the lawsuit. “We had a ton of successes. We had an incredible team — you know, good, bad and ugly.”
Atmosphere of menace
As the money poured in, Grunt Style became a chaotic, volatile workplace, according to six former employees interviewed by the San Antonio Express-News. They describe a company whose leaders — Alarik chief among them — made a series of reckless business decisions and nurtured a “frat house” work environment, including bouts of drinking. One ex-employee, San Antonian
Nikki Tey, said she was frequently disparaged at work because of her gender.
“There was really no respect for women,” Tey said. “I’ve never worked in such a difficult environment.”
Grunt Style’s current CEO, Glenn Silbert, said the company has “no tolerance” for such behavior.
An atmosphere of menace sometimes permeated Grunt Style’s office.
Matt Metzger, a former Grunt
Style brand director, re episode in fall 2017 in w Alarik “threw me out of ing.”
“And then as I was le (he) got up and everyon thought he was going to Metzger said. “He made vancement toward me w cocked fist and such an
Alarik acknowledged bursts in the office, whi chalked up to working l hours seven days a wee
“I’m not an angry pe I definitely have had mo he said. “I mean, I’ve br keyboard or phone befo know — a few.”
Early on, the apparel allowed employees to c guns at work. Two form ployees said the compa leaders, including Alari gun holsters mounted u their desks, brought in g and kept body armor cl
“I think my office in S nio had a holster under desk,” Alarik said. “I ne gun in there. I did have my office, but it was in
Alarik eventually bar in the workplace, excep handful of top executive
“Some people were l mately scared,” he said. “There’s people who ha tal struggles that could tially cause harm — we h people make threats to employees. At the end o day, we’re still very pro Amendment, but there some protocols in place
tect other people.”
Alarik’s ouster
In the aftermath of Grunt Style’s financial crisis, the company’s majority owner, Kansas City-based C3 Capital, a smallbusiness lender, replaced Alarik with Silbert, a former executive at Under Armour and other apparel brands.
Alarik’s ouster played out quietly — until two weeks ago, when he solicited contributions on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding website, to help cover medical expenses for his wife, who is battling cancer. He quickly raised $62,000.
He claimed in the post that the company fired him, leaving him without compensation or medical coverage for his family. Thousands of his supporters rallied on social media. Some called for a boycott of the brand.
In response, Grunt Style officials said Alarik remains chairman of the board and the largest individual shareholder.
Grunt Style later released a timeline of events and a screenshot of an email offering to cover his medical expenses until the two sides concluded negotiations.
Yet Alarik’s lawsuit, filed in Bexar County District Court, indicates they didn’t reach an amicable settlement.
The fight between Alarik and Grunt Style’s new executive
team appears to mark a transition from the brand’s rowdy early years, in which the company spent lavishly, including highdollar NASCAR and NFL sponsorships.
“There’s so much — it would be an amazing reality TV show,” said Metzger, who worked at Grunt Style from 2014 to 2018. “Way more drama than any other TV show out there right now.”
Silbert said Grunt Style is moving forward.
“We are a brand that’s evolving,” Silbert said. “But we’re not a brand that’s scared or running away from our values.”
Raucous roots
Alarik was born in Anaheim, Calif., but his family moved to North Barrington, Ill., near Chicago, when he was 7. After leaving the Army — he had two deployments in the Balkans — he returned to the area to start his business.
In Grunt Style’s early days in the Chicago suburbs of Schaumburg and later Carol Stream, Alarik assembled a team made up of mostly military veterans who, like the founder himself, had little background building a company.
What Alarik and his workers lacked in experience, they made up for in passion.
He ran the company like an