Moosejaw experienced success at its holiday season pop-up location on Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit.
“The traffic as well as the sales allowed us to continue the venture here through the winter months,” said Bryan Lively, Vice President of Retail at Moosejaw.
And now Lively hopes the high end outdoor outfitter will be able to make its temporary home, permanent. “It just felt like it was the right time to do it, to come down and be more on the leading edge.”
Moosejaw got its start as a single store in Keego Harbor in 1992. The goal is to become a national brand-with a stake in downtown Detroit.
We have six locations here in Michigan, Detroit made number seven. We have been in Chicago since 2000. And then this past year we opened out in Natick, Massachusetts outside of Boston, Boulder Colorado and Kansas City as well.”
The retailer sells goods with its own Moosejaw logo as well as brands like North Face, Patagonia, Arcteryx and others. And they operate with a quirky attitude. Foosball and ping pong tables are part of the Moosejaw experience. “It’s all about the environment and the attitude and the atmosphere, that everyone can come in and have a great experience and remember us.”
They also hope to be remembered as one of the retailers making a difference in Detroit’s downtown resurgence. “We do feel that the taste of temporary was great and we hope that again, we can make it a long term deal for us.”
Moosejaw is now open Wednesdays through Saturdays through February 22nd. Beyond that? “By all means we want to stay permanent in Detroit. We’ll continue to take it month by month. We won’t make any decision on a whim…because the last thing we’d want to do is to close it permanently after we announced we opened it permanently, so really the sustainability has to be there.”
There are also plans for the store to be open on Sundays during special events, such as the upcoming Motown Winter Blast, and the opening weekend of the baseball season, which is the best indication yet that Moosejaw plans to stick around.
Moosejaw is located at 1275 Woodward. It is open Wednesdays from 11 am to 7 pm, Thursdays from 11 am to 9 pm, and Fridays & Saturdays from 11 am to 7 pm.
