Yahoo Lifestyle Taylor Stitch to Open First Store in a Decade in Seattle
It took a while, but Taylor Stitch is making the move outside of its home state.
The San Francisco-based menswear brand will open a store in Seattle in mid-March, its third overall and first outside of California. The opening of the 860-square-foot unit in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood marks the first store Taylor Stitch has opened in a decade.
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When Michael Maher, Barrett Purdum and Mike Armenta founded the business in 2008 after graduating from college, Taylor Stitch made custom shirts. But that soon morphed into off-the-rack shirts with a more tailored fit than most of the competitors at the time.
In order to introduce itself to customers, the founders opened a store on Valencia Street in their adopted hometown of San Francisco before expanding into e-commerce, according to Luke McAlpine, general manager and head of brand for Taylor Stitch. A second unit was added on Chestnut Street in the city soon after.
Since the pandemic, the company has been looking for additional locations, centered around its “customer hubs,” McAlpine said. One of those hubs is in Seattle.
“The whole West Coast is strong for us, but the Pacific Northwest is particularly strong,” he explained. “We’ve chosen to focus our retail growth on markets that embody the Taylor Stitch ethos. The opportunity to grow our in-store presence here is one that we’re incredibly excited about. We look forward to showing the city all that we stand for.”
The Seattle store in Capitol Hill’s Pike Pine Corridor neighborhood at 315 East Pine Street will feature the brand’s most popular staples such as shirts, pants, outerwear and accessories, as well as seasonal products including the Fisherman Sweater, the Long Haul Jacket, the Foundation Pant and the Shop Shirt.
The store, which will be the largest in the fleet, was designed in neutral tones and will include rows of custom shelving, built-in interior lighting and a range of midcentury modern-inspired furniture.
McAlpin said the plan going forward is to open other stores in the next few years “on both coasts and in major metropolitan areas around the U.S.”
Taylor Stitch, whose motto is “Responsibly Built for the Long Haul,” is still best known for its shirts, but has expanded into other categories over the years, all of which fit into its mission to provide well-made, casual apparel with as little environmental impact as possible. Over the years it has collaborated with other brands including Stetson, SeeVees, Golden Bear Sportswear and others.
McAlpine said Armenta continues to be active in the company as its creative director and Mahar is now focused on the company’s larger portfolio The Digital Stronghold, a collection of digitally native men’s lifestyle brands. In addition to Taylor Stitch, The Digital Stronghold includes the Tie Bar, Boston Scally Co., a cap and apparel brand, and Pedal Mafia, an Australia-based cycling brand. Each brand operates independently.
Purdum has moved on but continues to be a “friend of the brand,” McAlpine said.
Although its own retail may be the immediate focus, Taylor Stitch also has a healthy wholesale business, McAlpine said, a category the company entered some seven or eight years ago. Its customers include independent boutiques around the country such as Old Pueblo Denim in Tucson, Ariz.; Hamlin in Chatt Hills, Ga., and Hamilton & Adams in Kingston, N.Y. “That channel continues to grow,” he said.
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