SPY ZINGER Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Alial Fital Heaquarters Tour Seattle, WA This past week, I had the opportunity to visit the Alial Fital Headquarters and showroom. The building, a transformed dental office in Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood, is about ten minutes north of downtown. I sat down with Gibran Hamdan, CEO and Creative Designer, for the boutique apparel label that celebrates it's fifth year in business this year. Hamdan, a larger than life, former NFL quarterback, looks like he could bench press the Alial Fital building without breaking a sweat. However, he's as nice as they come in this industry and has a relentless passion for the business he created. He's a guy and a brand that you just want to support. Hamdan has unique business strategy for a golf apparel brand. He's not looking to get into big box retailers. He doesn't want to wholesale his apparel to pro shops. He wants to sell to you and I on his online store, which is where 95% of his business is done. He wants a personal relationship with each one of his customers. Hamden takes pleasure in getting to know your name, treating you more like a friend than a customer. At it's core, Alial Fital produces limited edition golf shirts (only 100 shirts produced in each design,) made in the U.S.A. For the most part, Alial Fital is a one man operation. Hamdan creates all of his designs from his Seattle office. He then sources the fabric and has the pieces created in Los Angles. The finished apparel is then shipped back to Seattle where Hamdan keeps inventory of the limited edition pieces. He takes the orders, packages the product, then ships it to the customer with a handwritten note, individually thanking them in every order. Although cliché, you don't get the sense that this lean, one-person org chart, is operating a business at all. He's operating a dream, and he controls each component of his destiny. Hamdan is having sucess with his business model, and does not have immediate plans to change a good thing. I like this brand. High quality, limited edition, made in the U.S.A. I also like the guy behind it. For a guy that get's to take a look at a lot of different brands in this industry, I spend my own money at Alial Fital. I spend my own time visiting the shop. This is one of my favorites in golf. Customers are welcome to stop in the Alial Fital HQ for a personalized fitting experience, by appointment. Got a question for Hamdan, visit @alialfital on Twitter and use the hashtag: #AskAlialFital Location: Alial Fital 6193 Phinney Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98103 Website: www.alialfital.com Contact: info@alialfital.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ2j4JufgCI&feature=youtu.be&list=PLYcVX95rhD7HcWT_FwEwRohoegdCndwWZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverickping Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Nice review and could not agree more with you. Great person and I love and wear his shirts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozcycle Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I like the style, especially the colorful collars. Driver: 0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft Fairways: 0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft Hybrid: None in bag at the moment Irons: Titleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm). Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707, or Nike Method Core Drone w/Evnroll Gravity Grip Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apprenti23 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I've been a fan of AF since I first heard of them about four/five years ago? Maybe? Really cool stuff and love how they only produce a limited amount of shirts. I think it's 100 of each style and that's for all sizes. Have about a dozen of these in the closet. Some I've never worn, some I need to lose about twenty pounds so they don't fit me like a wetsuit. High quality stuff though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaidJacket Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I saw a few shirts etc that I think I'd wear. Nice looking stuff actually. Except... I'm not paying $90+ for a golf shirt and accessories. I don't have to. I've never been much of a clothes horse per se'. I dress nicely everywhere I go and do it for much less money. I go through golf shirts a lot during the summer. They get sweated out, washed and sweated out over and over. Occasionally I catch something that snags a shirt basically ruining it. No biggie. It didn't cost $90 bucks. What I'm saying is.... I could spend more if I wanted. I just don't like shelling out a ton for something that's old and worn in a few months. I'd bet if you guys saw me at the course you'd think I was Sam Sneed or something. Looking all dapper. My Sun Mountain bag currently includes: 771CSI 5i - PW and PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges EXS 10.5*, 929-HS FW4 16.5* Willimette w/GolfPride Contour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverickping Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I have 18 of their shirts. I expect good value for my money and these shirts (some) are fairly old (since they first came to market). They still look brand new. If anyone is interested take a look at their sale items, a good way to try them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny B Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I bought 3 shirts a few years ago on sale based on an earlier MGS post. They are high quality. “We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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