Brothers Started a Business With $45M+ Revenue in 3 Years

How did brothers Christian and Justin Arquilla become "ex-finance guys" in the business of socks?

The co-founders of Pacas started their entrepreneurial journey back in 2013—when faced with an all-too-common predicament. "I had been walking around New York in loafers, like boat shoes or whatever, all day," Justin says, "and [my wife is] like, 'Your feet smell terrible, your shoes smell terrible, you have to start wearing those little no-show socks.'"

Justin set out to get some no-show socks, but he was less than impressed by the selections, most of which either showed or slipped down. Why not create a better product to fill the gap? Justin called Christian to pitch the idea of creating their own business selling no-show socks, and he was all in. The team launched Gekks, a no-show sock knit with silver antimicrobial yarn that slides inside the shoe (instead than onto the foot), in 2015.

After a few years and increased requests for women's products, Gekks expanded its line, producing a women's no-show sock for ballet flats. The new design was a tremendous hit, the Arquillas note: By 2019, 90% of Gekks' income came from its women's products—with 45% from the ballet flat product alone.

Then, March 2020 rolled around. With pandemic lockdowns in full place and fewer professionals going into the office, there was less incentive for people to test Gekks. The brothers had to find another means to generate cash. Fortunately, they'd previously begun testing with another potential sock: one made with alpaca wool.

You can buy it from here

''This is incredibly soft, and I've never felt stuff like it before.''

several years ago, Christian was touring a North Carolina hosiery mill for Gekks when he discovered the fiber for the first time. "I went into the sales manager's area," Christian recounts, "and he had this cone of yarn on his desk that I felt, and I was like, 'What is this? This is super soft, and I've never felt something like it before.' And he was like, 'Oh, yeah, that's alpaca.'"

The soft, warm alpaca made Christian think back to when he'd visited his 9-year-old cousin in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and heard him talk about how cold and uncomfortable the atmosphere was. The "lightbulb went off," Christian recalls. He set out to study all about alpaca fiber in order to build a superb everyday product that could also assist make kids' hospital stays a little more comfortable.

So, in 2017, the Arquillas launched the product development process. The brothers bought sample yarn — most of which they sourced from the mountains of Peru, where alpaca coats have adapted to harsh daily temperature variations — and explored a range of sock designs: everyday, hiking, low cut. The offerings were similar to those from numerous merino wool companies at the time, but with the benefits specific to alpaca, the brothers add.

"It's like the Ferrari of fibers—it's the most incredible fiber ever."

"Everyone's talking about merino wool as this performance fiber, [and] it is," Justin says. "Then on the other extreme, you have cashmere, which is recognized for its softness and has this premium appeal. Alpaca is this fiber that essentially has everything that merino wool and cashmere have, all in one. So it's like the Ferrari of fibers - it's the most incredible fiber ever."

During the pandemic, the co-founders decided to investigate a baby alpaca option (which relates to the length of the hair, not the age of the animal), and their funders were in support of the pivot. There were already proven instances of direct-to-consumer firms offering high-quality socks with humanitarian projects — like Bombas, Shark Tank's most successful brand of all time. The brothers realized they could create alpaca socks at a low price and fill "a massive white space." So they launched their Pacas brand under the umbrella of Gekks.

At $52 for a three-pack, Pacas are still a luxury sock, but they're not as highly priced as other products with similar classification, like cashmere socks, which may retail for $30 per pair, the Arquillas say

The brothers' move paid off. Pacas officially started in October 2020 and made around $400,000 in sales in its first month. Then, the five-star reviews rolled in, and many of those October shoppers became repeat customers in November and December. The Arquillas and their investors knew it was time to split Pacas from Gekks.

Pacas raised its own seed round and went on to see more than $45 million in revenue in just three years. The brand has sold 3.2 million pairs of socks and claims more than 360,000 customers across the U.S. Additionally, the brand remains committed to giving back: Pacas has connections with about 20local children's hospitals to offer kids with alpaca socks during their hospitalizations.

These days, Pacas is the Arquillas' primary focus as they continue to scale the company, although Gekks continues to generate $500,000 to $600,000 annual income despite modest advertising efforts.

"As you scale, the problems just get bigger and more complex."

The consumer arena has transformed considerably over the past couple of decades, with success no longer defined by relationship-building with buyers at department stores but by the work put in on social media, direct-to-consumer channels and the like. Now, anyone willing to make the effort can be an entrepreneur — which makes the space more competitive, the co-founders believe.

The Arquilla brothers continue to set themselves and Pacas apart by adopting smart pivots and rising to meet severe challenges – again and again.

"There are no proper answers," Justin explains, "and you really have to sort it out by yourself. And then it turns into just every day [full of] problem-solving. You assume it's going to be easier, but as you scale, the difficulties just get greater and more complex. It never ends. You wake up, address today's difficulties, then go to bed and start it all over again."