ABERDEEN - Growing up in Colts Neck, Andrew Strafaci was active in all of the board sports — skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing. And in 2017, he turned this passion into Cyndrom, a line of apparel that celebrates the culture, spirit and lifestyle associated with these action sports.

“Of the board sports, skateboarding was my first love,” recalled Strafaci, 31, an Aberdeen resident. “When I was 9 or 10, my older brother got a skateboard for his birthday and I was extremely jealous, so my aunt got me one and I was hooked. Skateboarding then opened the door to the other activities for me and I kept exploring other sports and brands and never let go of that passion.”

Strafaci went on to graduate from the College of New Jersey in Ewing with a degree in civil engineering and then from Rutgers Law School with a JD/MBA in 2019 (formerly an engineer, Strafaci has been a practicing attorney for the past two years), all while pouring his free time into Cyndrom.

“The concept of Cyndrom goes back to my high school days; I was doodling at home and came up with the logo, which is a wave-shaped letter C,” he said. “These sports were a big part of my life and I’d always been fascinated by the different board sport apparel logos and brands and wanted the chance to compete with them.”

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So began an over decade-long pursuit for Strafaci, who created the off-spelling of his company’s brand name with his brothers, learned how to create designs, screen print and sew, and began making his own demo shirts on a screen printer he built himself after college.

Per the company’s motto, Cyndrom was “born from a love of action sports,” Strafaci said. “I have a lifelong passion for riding different types of boards and other people of all skill levels share that passion,” he said. “My line is rooted in the ‘louder’ style of clothes that were around at the turn of 2000 when skateboarding was experiencing a new resurgence and my designs pay homage to that era.”

Investing money he’d saved into creating professional-grade products and developing his supply chain, Strafaci launched Cyndrom in 2017 and began promoting his line at targeted pop-up shops with his brother Joe.

Among other events, “Cyndrom got its start doing the Asbury Park Punk Rock Flea Market at Convention Hall several times a year,” he said. “It was a great place for local artists and businesses to showcase ourselves, get a feel for who our customers were, and help grow our brands, and it really helped us get the word out there.”

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Five years later, “our brand includes a wide variety of hats, T-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, and other sweatshirts — we’ve got you covered from your head to your waist,” Strafaci said of his over two dozen products, which range from $30 hats and T-shirts to hoodies and crew neck sweatshirts in the $60 range.

“Quality and comfort are paramount and products like our hoodies are made of comfy fleece and terry cotton and have an exceptionally broken-in feel,” he said of materials he sources from suppliers in California and then has assembled, embroidered and screen-printed at a facility in Lakewood. “I fully custom-design our hats, which are our most popular products — in the winter, beanies are our best-sellers, and in the summer, we sell a lot of snapback and trucker hats with our ‘Ride On’ tagline.”

While Cyndrom’s products are sold online, they’re also available at a number of local stores.

“The first store we got into was Eastern Lines Surf Shop in Belmar — they took a chance on us when we had little to no following and we’re so grateful,” Strafaci said. “We’re also at Feet First Skate Shop in Red Bank, a store I grew up going to when it was formerly located in Middletown, and most recently, our products are also available at Gordon’s Surf Shop in Point Pleasant.”

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But the appeal of the company’s products extends far beyond Monmouth and Ocean counties.

“Our different designs featuring Tillie the Clown, a skeleton hand doing the shaka, and products with our ‘Surf and Annoy’ tagline took off and helped us become more of a full action sports brand with customers across America, not just a Jersey Shore brand,” said Strafaci.

With a client base that’s largely between the ages of 15 and 30 but also includes people in their fifties and sixties who were part of the original board culture as well as a new generation of teenagers, “we’re a welcoming community,” he said.

Among challenges, Strafaci said that the supply chain issues that surfaced during the pandemic have required him to both make products and manage inventory differently. At the same time, “there’s always pressure to come up with the next big product and maintain constant growth,” he said. “There aren’t many barriers to entry when you start a sportswear brand and there are a lot of competitors in our space, so we have to keep seizing every opportunity and working hard to stand out and expand.”

Strafaci plans to do that in a number of ways — buoyed by the $20,000 grant Cyndrom recently won in the 2021-2022 Rutgers Business School Business Plan Competition.

“We’d love to have our own brick-and-mortar store someday, but right now we’re growing through boutique board shops and their owners, who give us a lot of great feedback on customer preferences and trends,” he said. “We want New Jersey surf and skate shops looking for a new local brand that has extensive experience behind it and a lot of growth ahead of it to consider us.”

“We also plan to continue doing pop-up events, including the Belmar Pro Surfing Competition — which takes place this year on September 9th-11th and where we’ll be offering giveaways and special products and pricing — as well as the broader Surf Expo, the largest action sports retail trade show in U.S.,” he continued.

“Our goal is to be a national sportswear brand for all of the board sports, and we have targets inland, including Breckinridge, Colorado," Strafaci said. "The new snowboarding gloves we’re offering this year and in 2023 will be our foray into more tech gear, and next summer we’ll be introducing rash guards and other surf-related products.”

Ultimately, “I want Cyndrom to be a leader in action sportswear,” Strafaci said. “Our products are built by and for the people who love these sports and truly reflect their spirit, culture and community. Given the increased attention and influence all of the board sports continue to garner online and in prominent competitive events worldwide, we want Cyndrom to be there and represent the everyday board rider.”

As he continues to lead Cyndrom to new heights, Strafaci confirmed that connecting with customers remains his favorite part of the business.

“Seeing others share in my vision and appreciate what we’re offering is a very validating experience for any entrepreneur and I get the biggest thrill out of that,” he said. As a die-hard board-sport enthusiast himself, “I love that we offer quality custom apparel for board riders that allows them to express their passion.”