• Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, May 26, 2009 11 AM

The Hundreds, a clothing retailer with high "street-wear" cred, has already expanded from Los Angeles to San Francisco, but further growth could ruin its hip edge amongst the skater and hip-hop subcultures. Street-wear features T-shirts with bold graphics, layered pieces, strong colors on baseball caps and shoes, hooded sweatshirts and dark denims.

The Hundreds made $4.8 million in sales in 2008, up from $1.8 million in 2007, but fears losing its "underground" stature through too much expansion. Case in point: the Ed Hardy brand, which expanded into mainstream stores and lost its popularity on the street. The Hundreds has turned down department store overtures, yet designed a line for Disney. It's a matter of who's using whom, explains one of the retailer's founders.

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