Online retailer John's Crazy Socks tries on in-person sales at first warehouse store
John's Crazy Socks, an e-commerce company in Farmingdale, was founded in 2016 by Mark X. Cronin and his son, John. Credit: Rick Kopstein
For years, fans of John’s Crazy Socks have been showing up unannounced at the company’s Farmingdale headquarters to buy merchandise on the spot, one of the co-founders said.
But the staff has always directed visitors to the retailer’s website to make purchases, because the e-commerce company didn’t have a physical storefront, except for a pop-up shop held for one day in December each year.
That changed Friday, when John’s Crazy Socks opened its first permanent physical store, inside its warehouse brimming with brightly colored socks with diverse designs.
Customer demand was one of the reasons the business carved out a space for in-person sales in its 8,000-square-foot facility, at 110 Bi-County Boulevard, Suite 120, said Mark X. Cronin, who co-founded the business with his son, John.
“And, you know, I liken it to going into a restaurant with an open kitchen because you can come in just for the store, but you can also see the work going on. You can see how we pick and pack orders,” Mark Cronin said in an interview at the company's headquarters.
The company also created the in-person sales option as an additional revenue source because it is facing some headwinds from the United States’ newly imposed tariffs on imports and the possibility that online sales will fall amid declining consumer confidence, he said.
If the warehouse store does well, it could lead to an expanded brick-and-mortar presence for John's Crazy Socks, the company said.
Founded in 2016, John’s Crazy Socks sells socks bearing eclectic designs of everything from animals, to slogans, to foods, to sports, to holiday themes.
That aligns with the company’s major mission, which is to create employment opportunities for people who face barriers to work because of disabilities. It was inspired by John Cronin, who has Down syndrome.
“We have 34 [employees] total, 22 of whom have a differing ability,” Mark Cronin said.
The company has about 3,500 different designs of socks in bins on shelves in its warehouse, and it now has about 200 of the bestsellers available for in-person purchases in the building.
John Cronin, 29, will host meet-and-greets and take photos with shoppers who visit the warehouse store.
“I really like to see all the customers come by … I love meeting the customers,” he said.
Friday was selected as the opening day for the warehouse store because it is World Down Syndrome Day. To commemorate the day, John’s Crazy Socks scheduled fashion shows, games and other activities for Friday and Saturday.
The warehouse store will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, but it will close at 1 p.m. on Fridays during the summer.
John’s Crazy Socks is a social enterprise, which is a business that generates revenue while having a social or environmental mission.
The company donates 5% of its earnings each quarter to the Special Olympics, Mark Cronin said. It also makes “awareness” products, such as Autism Awareness Socks and Down Syndrome Awareness Socks, with 10% of those sales going to partner charities that advocate for people with those disorders, he said.
Most of the company’s employees are part-time and work on an as-needed basis, because 60% of John’s Crazy Socks sales occur during the last six weeks of the year, when customers are buying holiday gifts, he said.
Last year, John’s Crazy Socks received 50,000 orders, which accounted for about 200,000 pairs of socks sold, Mark Cronin said.
Most of the sock designs are created by a remote designer employed by the company, which contracts with factories to manufacture the socks, he said.
About 15% of the socks are made in factories in the United States, while the rest are produced elsewhere, with Taiwan, India and China accounting for about 70% of production, he said.
On Feb. 4, the United States’ 10% tariff on Chinese imports went into effect, and that was followed by the tariff being raised to 20% March 4.
Mark Cronin expects prices his business pays for supplies to rise under the United States’ recently instituted tariffs, but the sock company hasn’t decided if it will raise its retail prices to offset rising expenses, he said.
John's Crazy Socks is reluctant to hike prices because its socks are more expensive than most sold elsewhere and customers buy from the company to help support people with disabilities, he said.
“We’re not a luxury brand. We’re a premium brand. If somebody says to us, 'Hey, I can buy, you know, for the same price, I can go to Costco and get a bundle of socks,’ they're right. And we'll help them find the nearest Costco because … we can’t and don’t compete there,” he said.
John’s Crazy Socks’ prices range from $3.50 to $20 per pair, but most are between $10 and $13.99, he said.
The company’s revenue in 2024 rose 10% from the previous year, and revenue in the first 2½ months of this year is similar to that in the same period last year, he said.
Expecting headwinds from tariffs and other economic issues this year, John’s Crazy Socks is focusing on creating new or expanding alternative sources of revenue, including its business-to-business sales to large companies, such as Microsoft and Google, which place large orders for employee and client gifts, he said.
John’s Crazy Socks’ business-to-business sales grew more than 15% last year and now account for about 20% of revenue at the company, he said.
For years, fans of John’s Crazy Socks have been showing up unannounced at the company’s Farmingdale headquarters to buy merchandise on the spot, one of the co-founders said.
But the staff has always directed visitors to the retailer’s website to make purchases, because the e-commerce company didn’t have a physical storefront, except for a pop-up shop held for one day in December each year.
That changed Friday, when John’s Crazy Socks opened its first permanent physical store, inside its warehouse brimming with brightly colored socks with diverse designs.
Customer demand was one of the reasons the business carved out a space for in-person sales in its 8,000-square-foot facility, at 110 Bi-County Boulevard, Suite 120, said Mark X. Cronin, who co-founded the business with his son, John.
“And, you know, I liken it to going into a restaurant with an open kitchen because you can come in just for the store, but you can also see the work going on. You can see how we pick and pack orders,” Mark Cronin said in an interview at the company's headquarters.
John's Crazy Socks will have about 200 of the bestsellers available for in-person purchases. Credit: Rick Kopstein
The company also created the in-person sales option as an additional revenue source because it is facing some headwinds from the United States’ newly imposed tariffs on imports and the possibility that online sales will fall amid declining consumer confidence, he said.
If the warehouse store does well, it could lead to an expanded brick-and-mortar presence for John's Crazy Socks, the company said.
Founded in 2016, John’s Crazy Socks sells socks bearing eclectic designs of everything from animals, to slogans, to foods, to sports, to holiday themes.
That aligns with the company’s major mission, which is to create employment opportunities for people who face barriers to work because of disabilities. It was inspired by John Cronin, who has Down syndrome.
“We have 34 [employees] total, 22 of whom have a differing ability,” Mark Cronin said.
The company has about 3,500 different designs of socks in bins on shelves in its warehouse, and it now has about 200 of the bestsellers available for in-person purchases in the building.
John Cronin, 29, will host meet-and-greets and take photos with shoppers who visit the warehouse store.
“I really like to see all the customers come by … I love meeting the customers,” he said.
Friday was selected as the opening day for the warehouse store because it is World Down Syndrome Day. To commemorate the day, John’s Crazy Socks scheduled fashion shows, games and other activities for Friday and Saturday.
The warehouse store will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, but it will close at 1 p.m. on Fridays during the summer.
On a mission
John’s Crazy Socks is a social enterprise, which is a business that generates revenue while having a social or environmental mission.
The company donates 5% of its earnings each quarter to the Special Olympics, Mark Cronin said. It also makes “awareness” products, such as Autism Awareness Socks and Down Syndrome Awareness Socks, with 10% of those sales going to partner charities that advocate for people with those disorders, he said.
Most of the company’s employees are part-time and work on an as-needed basis, because 60% of John’s Crazy Socks sales occur during the last six weeks of the year, when customers are buying holiday gifts, he said.
Last year, John’s Crazy Socks received 50,000 orders, which accounted for about 200,000 pairs of socks sold, Mark Cronin said.
Most of the sock designs are created by a remote designer employed by the company, which contracts with factories to manufacture the socks, he said.
About 15% of the socks are made in factories in the United States, while the rest are produced elsewhere, with Taiwan, India and China accounting for about 70% of production, he said.
On Feb. 4, the United States’ 10% tariff on Chinese imports went into effect, and that was followed by the tariff being raised to 20% March 4.
Mark Cronin expects prices his business pays for supplies to rise under the United States’ recently instituted tariffs, but the sock company hasn’t decided if it will raise its retail prices to offset rising expenses, he said.
John's Crazy Socks is reluctant to hike prices because its socks are more expensive than most sold elsewhere and customers buy from the company to help support people with disabilities, he said.
“We’re not a luxury brand. We’re a premium brand. If somebody says to us, 'Hey, I can buy, you know, for the same price, I can go to Costco and get a bundle of socks,’ they're right. And we'll help them find the nearest Costco because … we can’t and don’t compete there,” he said.
John’s Crazy Socks’ prices range from $3.50 to $20 per pair, but most are between $10 and $13.99, he said.
The company’s revenue in 2024 rose 10% from the previous year, and revenue in the first 2½ months of this year is similar to that in the same period last year, he said.
Expecting headwinds from tariffs and other economic issues this year, John’s Crazy Socks is focusing on creating new or expanding alternative sources of revenue, including its business-to-business sales to large companies, such as Microsoft and Google, which place large orders for employee and client gifts, he said.
John’s Crazy Socks’ business-to-business sales grew more than 15% last year and now account for about 20% of revenue at the company, he said.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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