From atop a Pullman bar to Forbes

To an outsider, the thought of a small clothing company that started above a Pullman bar becoming featured in one of the country’s most prominent business publications may seem like a long shot.

Yet, nothing seemed out of the realm of possibility to Tony Poston, founder of College Hill Custom Threads.

In fact, ask him about the impressive growth and success of the 6-year-old local business, and he’ll say it was part of the company’s plan from day one.

“We always thought we’d be at this point, but we know there’s still a lot of room to grow,” he said.

Along with that growth, the clothing and accessory company is now receiving national recognition. College Hill Custom Threads was recently named one of 15 finalists in the running to win one of Forbes’ first-ever Main Street Awards. The winners will be featured on Forbes.com and in Forbes Magazine at the end of the year.

Specifically, College Hill Custom Threads is trying to win the e-commerce expansion category.

Since starting the company in an apartment in 2011, Poston said his company has expanded thanks to its online presence, and though it still has a brick and mortar store in Pullman, the majority of its business is done digitally. The College Hill Custom Threads brand has expanded its brand to more than 400 college campuses, Poston said.

“Our vision is to be the No. 1 custom apparel provider in the country and create a remarkable experience for our customers,” he said.

His company has earned national recognition before, including being named one of Inc. Magazine’s 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the nation.

For an entrepreneur like Poston, though, it has always been his dream to be featured in Forbes which, as he said, is “sort of the cream of the crop.”

“This is the one I’m most excited about,” he said.

He said winning the award would solidify their vision of expanding the company’s influence outside the small confines of the Palouse.

Poston credits the camaraderie of the staff as a key reason to the business’ success. He considers them a close-knit group that feeds off of each other’s ideas. It is important enough that the company decided not to create offices in major cities like Boston or Los Angeles like it initially planned because doing so spread out the staff out too much. Thanks to e-commerce, the company can operate anywhere, so they decided to keep their offices in Pullman and Seattle, Poston said.

He also attributes their success to the support of the Palouse. He said the company would not be in this position had it not been for the support of Washington State University, the University of Idaho and the backing of the local community. He said the business they’ve received from this area has helped them grow across the country.

“They really support local and that’s really important,” he said.

That’s why Poston said Pullman will be his home no matter how far-reaching his company’s footprint becomes.

“I will always remain in Pullman,” he said.

Poston said they should know the results of the Forbes Main Street Awards by the end of the month. The public can vote for the Audience Choice Award. To vote, visit mainstreetawards.forbes.com/voting.php.