San Poncho is a Parksville-based small business that has been making a now-iconic Pacific Northwest-inspired rain jacket.
However, their product isn’t a rain jacket exactly—it is a rain poncho.
Partners in life and business Chris Worgan and Coco Lien founded San Poncho in 2020, wanting to create a unique piece of rain gear that was of superb quality compared to competitors, more affordable and designed to withstand the lengthy rainy season of the Pacific Northwest.
The result was San Poncho’s ‘Legacy Poncho.’
“The whole premise of starting this company was to try to offer this technical fabric at this really accessible price,” Worgan told Victoria Buzz.
He added that they didn’t price their product like most companies do because they have been deliberately growing their company slowly and organically over the past five years, rather than seeking investors who would allow them to grow quickly.
“Normally, you take your cost to manufacture and you double that cost, and that becomes your wholesale price, then you double that again and that becomes your retail price,” he explained.
“If we did that it would put our garment at around $500 and we didn’t want to do that. We wanted to basically offer the same kind of rain protection as the $500 jacket but more of it in terms of the size and coverage, and for half the price.”
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Now that the region is on the cusp of the rainy and dry season, San Poncho is hosting the biggest sale they ever have, offering $100 off their remaining stock of the Legacy Poncho.
Worgan explained that this past year, they sold out of some of their more sought-after sizes and colours earlier than usual.
“We had a really great year, and I wish we would have had more inventory to last us longer,” said Worgan.
With the summer approaching quickly, San Poncho decided to drop the prices on all remaining Legacy Poncho stock to clear out their stores and prepare for a fresh start in what they hope will be their best year yet.
This sale will be the cheapest these jackets will ever be, and Worgan says it has improved access to the jacket that he created to be more accessible.
“We’ve gotten a couple emails so far saying, ‘thank you so much for the price break, I would normally not be able to get [the Legacy Poncho] without it.’”
Though they are out of some sizes in certain colours, there is still plenty of available stock at this cheap price.
Check out what they have left on San Poncho’s website to see if your size is still available.
Looking forward to the next rainy season
Worgan says that the way he and Lien operate San Poncho is they order massive amounts of their products to be manufactured and delivered for the beginning of each rainy season in August or September.
This process takes six months to fulfill, as they source the best material possible and have the ponchos made overseas.
With another rainy season nearly done and another approaching faster than some would like, they have put in their biggest order to date, hoping to not run out as quickly in the coming fall.
However, this sale will be the last chance for those looking for a new approach to rain protection, as San Poncho is making some updates to their flagship product and introducing another style of rain poncho.
Worgan has been working with renowned outerwear designer Conroy Nachtigall, who has created designs for brands such as Arc’teryx and Adidas.
Nachtigall aided Worgan in improving the design of the next round of Legacy Ponchos to come this fall, in addition to helping him create a brand new design.
The new design is for a rain poncho Worgan says is a little bit more geared towards cyclists, photographers and other recreationalists.
It will not have sleeves or a full-body zipper like the Legacy Poncho, but instead, will be pullover style with clasps along the garment that when clasped, forms sleeves.
“It’s kind of like a technical version of an actual poncho,” Worgan explained.
“It will still be oversized to fit comfy clothes underneath, it will still be lightweight, breathable and waterproof, but we’re just taking what people would think of a rain poncho and elevating it.”
“It will also have some loops in the front that you will be able to put your hands through when you’re riding your bike and it will create a kind of tenting effect over your legs and your thighs so you can ride in the rain.”
He added that cyclists have really taken to the Legacy Poncho, even though it wasn’t specifically designed for cycling. After assessing feedback on this, Worgan was inspired to design this next addition to San Poncho’s offerings.
Additionally, Worgan says that they are planning on designing and launching a ‘Pro Poncho’ in the coming years, once he is confident it is ready and still accessible.
With the biggest order in the company’s history arriving this August, Worgan says there will be some challenges regarding the current trade war with the United States.
Some challenges ahead
Because the ponchos are manufactured overseas, he ends up paying for them in USD, and he says that depending on the strength of the Canadian dollar, it may cost him more.
“The only way [the tariffs] will affect us is if the Canadian dollar tanks,” he said.
“We owe for the bulk of that order when it arrives and so if our dollar falls in comparison to the US dollar by the time the shipment arrives, I have to pay that massive bill and that would impact me.”
Despite the garments being manufactured overseas, Worgan says that San Poncho is still a Canadian company through and through.
“I think a lot of times when people hear that something is made overseas, it kind of gets dismissed how many hands the product goes through here in Canada as well,” Worgan told Victoria Buzz.
“Manufacturing and fabric creation is certainly a big part of the business, but it is just one part—there are so many other components to it, a lot of which are local.”
He says that through utilizing local graphic designers, garment designers, marketing partners, printers, box suppliers, warehousing, shipment, fulfilment, delivery and more, San Poncho is able to maintain their Vancouver Island, small business roots.
“I have to give a lot of credit to all the local helping hands here,” he concluded.
“It’s been a crazy journey so far but it’s also really rewarding—we’re smiling all the time.”
