CSUF Business Grads and Brothers Launch an Out-of-this-World Apparel and Memorabilia Company With Global Reach | College of Business and Economics at CSUF (csuf-business-grads-and-brothers-launch-an-out-of-this-world-apparel-and-memorabilia-company-with-global-reach)

_{The Salcedo Brothers have used their experience at Cal State Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics to build a major UFO-themed memorabilia and apparel line.}

According to recent polling, about two-fifths of Americans believe in UFOs, a resurgence in popular culture interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Leading the way in memorabilia branded to this community are Cal State Fullerton Business grads and brothers David and Nick Salcedo. They share with us about their startup and how their CSUF Business education played a role.

In June 2017, David Salcedo ’19 (international business) and his brother Nick ’22 (international business) were students at the CSUF College of Business and Economics who were trying their hand on creating their first logo. As UFO enthusiasts, they created a simple white outline of a flying saucer on a black background, with the word “SAUCER.”

After a few months, the brothers planned to create some jackets and hats to wear personally to identify with the UFO enthusiast movement.

Little did they know that seven years later, their brand would be recognized in the global ufology community as a trend-setting niche startup for apparel, trading cards and memorabilia.

After getting positive reviews from friends, acquaintances and strangers, the Salcedo brothers decided to market their creations at Alien Con at the Pasadena Convention Center in 2018.

“We took 1,000 items. And we sold out of everything we brought. So we knew then that we had a concept worth exploring and expanding,” says David Salcedo.

In 2019, the brothers brought their memorabilia, branded as SAUCER, to other UFO events.

David and Nick Salcedo were poised to become trendsetters in memorabilia marketing to this expanding enthusiast community.

From Personal Pastime to Major Trendsetters

“It’s amazing that just from a simple design and logo that we’ve become pioneers in this space,” says Nick Salcedo. “Before us, no one put out fashionable, stylish apparel for the UFO phenomenon.”

SAUCER’s slogan, “Elevate Your Craft,” speaks both to spacecraft and elevating one’s personal brand, and it is a message that is resonating in the ufology community and beyond.

“We’ve always been about bettering ourselves every day. How can we modify and make things better than they are now. A lot of people love our slogan, including artist and filmmaker Jeremy Corbell,” says David Salcedo.

Podcaster Joe Rogan has also been known to wear SAUCER apparel, providing greater visibility.

Today, the Salcedo Brothers hold 22 USPTO trademarks relating to UFOs.

The Salcedo Brothers were into the sports trading card space as kids. As adults, the brothers have synthesized their childhood interest and their UFO passion to bring trading cards into the ufology community.

In addition to a recently-released suite of Roswell trading cards, the Salcedo Brothers are working on a new generation of UFO trading cards that will become available later this year, including reported alien abductee Travis Walton, Collin Andrew (who coined the term “crop circle” to reference the mysterious circles in the British countryside) and Calvin Parker, all household names in the UFO community.

The Salcedo brothers look forward to the release of an official collection in the coming weeks on Betty and Barney Hill, an American couple whose 1961 UFO experience is widely considered to be the first reported alien abduction.

“We’ve recently invested in new machinery and equipment so we can manufacture in-house, so we’ll be able to rachet up more trading card collections in the coming months,” they say.

Incubating and Energizing the Concept at the Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics

If it weren’t for their business education at Cal State Fullerton, the Salcedo Brothers believe SAUCER would have never gotten off the ground.

SAUCER’s ability to transcend cultural barriers can also be credited to the business college’s globally-focused education.

“Thanks to our international business coursework, we learned how to communicate across different cultures and strike a middle ground. And our knowledge of the supply chain is so strongly based on our courses,” says David Salcedo. “You’re not going to get a full grasp until you’re actually running your business, but our education at CSUF gave us the mindset.”

Nick Salcedo points to the determination necessary as a university student as setting the stage for entrepreneurship.

“You have to show up to class day in and day out. And it’s the same in the business world. Whether or not you’re working, the business day is still going to go. We have to stay continuously hungry to provide a quality product to our customer base. Being a college student motivated us to keep going and achieve and take in knowledge and apply it and apply it uniquely individually.”

A Bright Future for SAUCER

“Everything is run in-house. Our graphics department, our production for merchandise, everything you see come out of SAUCER, it’s all within us,” says David Salcedo. “Our facility in Alhambra is where all our hats, sweatshirts, apparel, trading cards come out of.”

While David Salcedo is on the production and supply chain side, Nick focuses on graphic design, working together as a team to make decisions. David’s wife, Faye, an alumna of Cal Poly Pomona, focuses on the finances and production line.

“We see our brand and company growing as the UFO topic grows, reaching more people globally,” says David Salcedo. “We are the brand of ufology. People will go to us when they want to wear something that is fashionable and a conversation-starter.”

In the future, the Salcedo Brothers hope to open a physical storefront.

“We feel there are different tiers of enthusiasts, from those who are super into UFOs and can tell you about all the cases and all the books, to those who are somewhat familiar about Roswell and Area 51 and will buy some of our product but aren’t as familiar, and then you have the people who are barely getting into the topic and are learning from our content. And then you have people who just think saucers and UFOs look cool. We want to cater to everyone,” says Nick Salcedo.

“We’ve become friends with a lot of DJs and musicians in the electronic dance scene who are in to the UFO topic. Also professional athletes, including a member of the Vegas Raiders team who claimed to have a sighting from their chartered plane.”

The ability of UFO merchandise to transcend age, gender, race and background barriers is particularly impressive to the Salcedo Brothers.

“At one convention, we sold a jacket with our classic saucer logo to a 13-year-old. Within a few minutes, that same jacket was purchased by an 80-year-old woman,” David Salcedo recalls. “This topic attracts people from different walks of life, giving us a wide range of customers globally.”