Stio , the Jackson, WY-based mountain apparel brand, opened its second Stio Mountain Studio retail store June 6 in Chicago’s flourishing Bucktown neighborhood. Grand opening events are planned for the weekend of June 12, 2015.
Stio will bring to Chicago its unique line of “mountain town style meets backcountry performance” apparel. After a rigorous national search, the North Damen location in Bucktown was selected for its active, outdoor-centric population and status as a hotspot for young professionals with a hunger for outdoor adventure and appetite for the high quality and stylish performance apparel. Housed in a historic warehouse storefront, the Stio Mountain Studio Chicago experience will balance the brand’s progressive approach to product design and fabric technology, with an architectural legacy as strong as the Teton Mountains from which the brand was born.
“We are very excited to open our second Mountain Studio in the great American city of Chicago. During the search for our next brand hub, we quickly fell in love with the Bucktown neighborhood and think it is a perfect fit for the Stio brand ethos,” stated Stio CEO and founder Stephen Sullivan. “With year-round airline service and four direct flights per day in the summer and winter seasons, Chicago and Jackson Hole have already fostered a strong connection. We look forward to enhancing this relationship by bringing a dose of mountain soul to this already vibrant outdoor community.”
Retail is a key component of Stio’s long-term strategy and the company has plans to open Stio Mountain Studios in carefully selected national locations yearly. The brand is scaling rapidly, experiencing another strong growth year in the direct-to-consumer channel, and recently launched its Spring/Summer 2015 Collection featuring the CFS, Divide and Crester collections.
The Chicago Stio Mountain Studio opening-weekend party will feature local food trucks, brews and product giveaways. A portion of the weekend’s sales will benefit Friends of the Chicago River, a local organization striving to ensure that the Chicago River remains one of the world’s greatest metropolitan rivers.
