Downtown Wichita business reboots with new partners and, soon, some new kinds of customers

Considering he opened a men’s retail shop in downtown Wichita in the midst of a pandemic, Rodney Horton has done a pretty amazing job getting his Standard Issue off the ground.

Now, though, he said it’s time for a reboot.

Valhalla Media Co. founders Shane Roten and Taylor Trickle have bought into Standard Issue, where Micah Boulanger also is a partner, and are going to help diversify the brand.

“They’re just going to help with all things marketing and design,” Horton said.

There will be a new website, more of an online presence and new designs in the store, too.

“The good news is we’ve created a brand,” Horton said of what he’s already accomplished.

He’s had a lot of events in the space and said, “We’ve stayed pretty busy with the whole Douglas scene.”

A lot of Standard Issue’s merchandise is tied to Wichita, such as Draggin’ Douglas T-shirts.

“We’ve been really hyper local, and I think that will always be our heart,” Horton said. However, he said he sees ways the Valhalla partners can create new designs that aren’t exclusive to Wichita.

“We’re going to branch out from that.”

Another way he plans to expand his offerings eventually is with clothing exclusively for women.

“We have women now that are buying our stuff,” Horton said.

They complain about sizing, though, and have to come up with workarounds to wear the clothing, so Horton said he’d like to have lines just for them.

“I think there’s a need for that.”

It’s a pretty successful position for Horton to be in considering he opened the business at a time a lot of other people were closing theirs.

“It’s just been tough across the board,” Horton said. “But you know, traffic’s been coming back downtown.”

He said he’s excited to get some more help with his new partners.

“I’ve been kind of steering the ship as best I could.”