Sitting in the complex on the corner of West main Street and Kirby Drive rests Agenda, a clothing store that specializes in upscale street wear. The store, known for specializing in denim, outerwear, and sneakers is frequented by celebrities like Sauce Walka, Rick Ross, Gervonta Davis and Don Toliver for their ability to obtain hot and hard to find clothing. For Kendron Haggerty creating the store has been a labor of love with a pathway that hasn’t always been the smoothest.

“I had a little store near Deerbrook Mall, but that store got broken into six times. Then the mall came and recruited me, so I was there for a couple of years,” recalls Haggerty as he sits back in a chair in the back of the store, nestled between piles of jeans and T-shirts that haven’t yet been placed on the sales floor. “Business was so good I was running three stores at the same time, but it just became too much for me.”

Running the three stores taught Haggerty a lesson he still applies in business today: put all your energy into one thing first and then branch out. He turned his sights toward his newly opened Galleria location. While he started at the location just selling clothes a friend suggested selling shoes and Haggerty quickly began to establish Agenda as a brand. It became a place to go to find hard to find clothing along with shoes making it a one stop shop. After being in the Galleria for two years news began to spread about the COVID pandemic. What Haggerty thought would be a death sentence for his store turned out to be the exact opposite.
“Business started booming. We started getting more customers in person as well as online,” recalls Haggerty. “For about a year and a half there used to be lines just to get inside the mall. Business was great and it was just a blessing.”

While the pandemic didn’t stop sales in the store the overall success of Agenda eventually led to Haggerty and the Galleria parting ways. He was told by the mall that he needed to sign another lease containing a clause preventing him from selling one of his most profitable items – sneakers.

“It’s a long story but we’ve faced worse. Besides, we’re making it over here,” smiles Haggerty as he looks around the Kirby location. “I like this location better anyway because a lot of people don’t even like going to the mall.”

As Houston gains more residents and attention from the outside world Haggerty keeps his eyes on the trends to make sure Agenda remains on the cutting edge of fashion. The rise in popularity of the city is making that process easier and easier for him as Houston continues to gain a foothold in the world of fashion.

“We used to be behind [the trends] in fashion. I would go on vacation in LA or New York and see what was about to be popular. Now we’re caught up. The city helps it along too because there is always somewhere to go in Houston. There’s always something to do. And if there’s something to do people are going to need something to wear.”
Haggerty looks at those bumps in the road getting Agenda to where it is today as life lessons. He has his eye on new locations in cities like Miami and Atlanta but, after looking back at his start creating three stores, is making sure the economics are right. For now, he continues to be a part of the Houston fashion world as it expands with the growth of the city.

“I’m just waiting. I’ve learned and I’ll know when the time is right. When new opportunities present themselves, we’ll be there.”