"No moss grows as Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) keeps on spinning"
A Philadelphia advertising agency is putting its marketing where its money is.

Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) moved its headquarters (and 75 employees) from Society Hill to 13th Street -- a neighborhood it then helped christen Midtown Village, with a new logo and advertising campaign.

The name change is part of a changing identity for an area that includes newer businesses like Lucky Strike Lanes, Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams home furnishings and Doggie Style Pet Boutique, alongside the street's traditional offering of pornographic bookstores and check-cashing agencies. Much of the block has been renovated by developer Tony Goldman, who is also Quaker City Mercantile's landlord.

"'B3' is gone," said Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) CEO and Creative Director Steven Grasse, referring to the neighborhood's former name. B3, which stood for Blocks Below Broad, never caught on, in part because Broad runs north-south and has no "below."

Quaker City Mercantile, which took over a three-story building at 13th and Sansom formerly occupied by a gay-porn theater, seems to fit in well with the nontraditional neighborhood it is trying to help redefine.

The agency, whose tagline is "breaking rules since 1988," represents a range of consumer brands, including RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Camel and Kool cigarettes, Lee Cooper Jeans, Ecco Shoes, William Grant & Sons Distilled Spirits and Pepsi Co.'s Mountain Dew.

Quaker City Mercantile's offices, which look out onto El Vez restaurant, were designed by Grasse's wife Sonia Kurtz-Grasse who used a mix of modern decor, antiques and even furniture made by Grasse's father. Wallpaper in the lobby features portraits of Lewis & Clark, Thomas Jefferson, Gen. William T. Sherman, Al Gore and others -- people whose lives were shaped by tobacco.

"We wanted to not do the whole corny, wacky-tacky thing that ad agencies usually do," said Grasse, who does not smoke. "I hate that [stuff]."
But the move and new neighborhood are not all that's happening at Quaker City Mercantile, which has extended its business beyond advertising into retail, product licensing and film making.

The agency has forged a retail business centered around Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins, a real-life tattoo artist (1911-73), who was a mandatory late-night stop for sailors in Honolulu during World War II.

Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) opened a Sailor Jerry store on North 3rd Street to sell T-shirts, pea coats and other Sailor Jerry apparel. Now, that store has been replaced by a larger one on the ground floor of Quaker City Mercantile's headquarters on 13th Street. Sailor Jerry's wholesale and Web operations will move into Quaker City Mercantile's former headquarters, at 304 Walnut St.

With one of its clients, William Grant & Sons Distilled Spirits, Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) licensed its own liquor, Sailor Jerry Rum. This year, the rum is on pace to sell 150,000 cases.

Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) uses viral marketing and overlapping devices to market the goods.

For instance, Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) will invite edgy bands -- ranging from Russian Roulette and Scream to Me to the New York Dolls -- to play at the Sailor Jerry store. The band will wear apparel from Sailor Jerry and Lee Cooper Jeans and Converse All-Star "Chuck Taylors" featuring licensed Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) designs. Its performance will be photographed and filmed. Video of the performances will be posted on YouTube.com.
"Things are really different now. It used to be a $1 million [commercial]. Now, it's a $10,000 YouTube video," Grasse said.

Recordings of the various in-store performances are on CD, "The Original Sailor Jerry," which is given to customers when they buy goods. A documentary about the actual Sailor Jerry is in the works.

"It helps us market other clients. It's guerrilla, it's viral. It's not theory," said Grasse. "The focus is on driving traffic, not whiz-bang flash stuff."
Online sales of Sailor Jerry apparel have boomed in Japan and Europe, Grasse said. It also runs ad campaigns in publications like Tattoo Savage, Vice, Decibel and in alternative weeklies in key markets.

Separately, through an arrangement with Urban Outfitters, Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) also sells non-Sailor Jerry apparel in the Philadelphia chain's 90 flagship retail stores.

Grasse is getting into publishing as well.

Old City publishing house Quirk Books plans to put out a collection of QuaGrasse, 42, has mellowed. Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) has backed off on its marketing of its "Bikini Bandits" films, once a major push.
"I have a 5-year-old daughter now," Grasse said.