Seattle-based Evo, considered one of the most influential retail brands in actions sports, was on the brink last week of opening its highly anticipated store in Portland, OR.
Evo is opening the store, which will be its first outside of Seattle, in a 120-year-old Salvation Army building in the city’s in Portland’s trendy Central Eastside redevelopment zone.
Evo Portland missed its initial Oct. 1 opening date, but Evo Founder and CEO Bryce Phillips said the inevitable delays of historic preservation work are well worth the wait.
“There’s no way to create the type of soul and character that you get from breathing new life into an old building and customers feel that right away,” Phillips told Sports Executive Weekly recently. “It’s a richer experience and the contrast of old and new in a building like this one makes for an especially dynamic experience.”
Evo has been working with its landlord to renovate 11,800 square feet in the basement and first two floors of the building, which is located at 200 Martin Luther King Boulevard. The store will sell ski, snowboard, skateboard, bike, surf, wake, and lifestyle apparel and have a full service shop for ski, snowboard, and bike, and custom boot work. Perhaps most importantly, it will have a space for the cultural events that are a core part of the Evo brand.
Tapping people’s passions
The project comes two years since Evo relocated its Seattle store to a 13,000-square-foot warehouse it renovated to accommodate one of the larger assortments of snow boards, skis, boots, skateboards and street wear ever assembled in a single store. The store, which is located on the border of the Wallingford and Fremont neighborhoods, has become known as much for hosting films, photography exhibits, fundraisers and live musical performance at its art gallery as it is for selling the latest outdoor gear.
Evo has become adept at using video, images, writing and social media to amplifying its in-store experience
on Evo.com, which is on pace to generate 83 percent of the company’s sales this year. This has made Evo a go to retailer for niche lifestyle brands like Armada, Jones Snowboards and TREW as well as global brands such as Burton, GoPro, K2, Salomon and Skullcandy.
“More than anything, we believe that customers are going to be more and more focused on retail experiences that deliver much more than the products that they are looking to buy,” Phillips explains. “The passion that is woven into our customers lives will not go away. That’s a constant. The key is to tap into these passions and over-deliver when it comes to all of the elements that tie to their lifestyles.”
For Evo’s customer base of “20’s to the Forever-30’s,” those passions include not just snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding and cycling, but music, art, travel, and being part of a larger community. The company also operates an adventure travel business called EvoTrip.
“People want to be a part of movements, in this case businesses, where it’s not only about driving profits,” Phillips said. “Central to Evo is giving back, specifically to underprivileged children. This is not only a central theme at Evo, but one that I believe will be more prominent as great brands emerge and ultimately take the lead competitively. I bring all of these up because they are a constants that evolve and Evo is set up to always adapt accordingly.”
The opening of Evo Portland will add to the momentum at Evo, which is heading into its tenth holiday season ahead of plan. Phillips does not foresee the new store changing Evo’s mix of online to bricks-and-mortar sales because online sales continue to grow at such a fast pace. Moreover, the Portland store will enhance Evo.com by offering free shipping to Portland customers willing to pick up their order in the new store.
In 2015 and beyond, growth will also come from an increased commitment to cycling.
“We are really excited about bike, especially because so many at Evo are fully immersed in the sports,” said Phillips. “I say “sports” because “bike” means so many things. Well be in the commuter category which isnt a sport but a lifestyle category and also a segment of mountain biking as well. More details on that will be released soon. We love bikes so again, excited about what’s to come.”
