Oiselle opening first physical store
While many retailers trend slowly away from physical retail stores, Oiselle, a Seattle-based women’s running apparel company, will soon be opening its first storefront in the city’s upscale University Village, only a few kilometres from headquarters. Previously, most of their product was sold through their online store.
“Our vision is to create a place where customers can experience the fit and feel of our product, but also to be a place where our friends, family and teammates can come together,” said Oiselle’s new retail operations director, Katie Woodruff. “It will be a hub for viewing big meets and races, having speakers and being a place for local groups. Involving the community is the best way to build community.”
Woodruff joined the company only a month ago.
The brand, founded in 2007, has had success in the women’s running market recently. The company had athletes on the runway at last fall’s New York Fashion Week and has been in the pages of the New York Times.
Big-name American distance runners Kara Goucher and Lauren Fleshman are both sponsored by Oiselle, as well as a team of other personalities covering different swaths of the running and fitness community. Many of the will be at the store’s grand opening, which doesn’t yet have a set date, though it is planned for early in the coming spring.
“For a young company, this is a dream come true,” said founder and CEO Sally Bergesen. “I believe in brands and creating an immersive experience. A store is the ultimate opportunity to do that. Our first and most important goal is to make this store perfect, but long-term, we see that this may be a stepping stone to multiple stores in key markets.”
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