Pioneering eco-brand to open first UK Flagship store in summer 2011.
From this summer, Londoners will be able to get their paws on the full range of Patagonia clothing and footwear thanks to the opening of a new Patagonia UK Flagship store in the heart of Covent Garden.
It's the pioneering eco-aware brand's first UK own-brand Flagship store and will showcase everything in the company's range from core technical alpine and snowsports kit through to the more casual lifestyle range and the new footwear collection.
Interestingly, the venture is a partnership with the excellent Peak-based shop Outside, who have been dealing with Patagonia for years and already run The Patagonia Shop in Hathersage.
As with other Patagonia stores, the brand has chosen to use a historic site and preserve the integrity of the building. The Covent Garden location is a listed location and was formerly part of the Watney Combe & Reid brewery, which was founded in 1827 and produced Watney's Red Barrel Beer. The basement of the building was formerly used as storage for fruit and vegetables destined for Covent Garden market.
Patagonia and Outside say that they're working closely with the architects to 'ensure sensitivity when working with the historic aspects of this unique space' and Robert Cohen of Patagonia says:
“We want our stores to be gifts to their communities. Because we're trying to create a living, breathing version of the brand, we view the building as much a part of the story as the products inside.”
We were intrigued, so we went browsing on the Patagonia web site and dug out some images of their US stores and they are quite lovely, see left and below.
Patagonia's European marketing manager Jonathan Petty adds: “The owners of Patagonia, Yvon and Malinda Chouinard, have for many years wanted to open a London store. We're very excited to be opening in one of Europe's premier cities, and hope this will continue to drive the fantastic momentum the brand currently has in Europe.”
The new store is scheduled to open in summer 2011, more details nearer the time.
Full Patagonia information at www.patagonia.com.
