A Canadian performance clothing company that has wanted to expand for a while into the U.S. has picked Denver as the location for its first international store and plans to open in early October, even though there’s still a pandemic.
DUER, based in Vancouver, B.C., signed a lease in August for a roughly 1,600-square foot space in the River North Art District. The doors will open Oct. 9.
“We’ve had this in our sights for a long time, a U.S. launch. I’m just thrilled to finally be able to do it. It’s sort of ‘Pandemic be damned, we’re going to do it,’ ” said founder and CEO Gary Lenett.
Since starting the company about seven years ago, Lenett said DUER has built a strong customer base in the Denver area. The company specializes in jeans for men and women that look good enough to wear to business meetings and are comfortable enough to bike to work in.
Lenett was 56 when he started the company. He had been in the fashion business for more than 30 years, working with such major brands as Levi Strauss & Co. At a certain point, he told his wife and business partners that he “was done with this.”
“I wanted to get healthier, have a simpler lifestyle,” Lenett said. “I gave up my car and started riding my bike everywhere.”
It’s about an hour’s bicycle ride from Lenett’s home to his office in downtown Vancouver. “If I had an important meeting and still wanted to ride my bike, I couldn’t find anything I would wear,” he said.
Lenett worked with a friend who’s an expert in performance apparel to come up with regular jeans “and put some tech into them.” The jeans have gussets for added mobility and are made of denim and blended fabrics that include moisture-wicking and antimicrobial features.
“I thought, OK, this will be a nice retirement gig for me. And I get to make pants for myself,” Lenett said
The business took off. Lenett figures he tapped into the right thing at the right time. DUER has three of its own stores in Canada and sells its line, which includes some jackets and tops, online and in about 700 independent retailers across North America and Northern Europe. When Lenett started scouting sites for his first stores in the U.S., four cities were at the top of his list: Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and Denver.
A good arrangement with the landlord moved Denver to the No. 1 spot. He hopes to open other U.S. sites soon, possibly in the spring.
Lenett said his company’s analytics told him Denver was the city, but his gut told him RiNo was the right spot. “I got out of the car in RiNo and the guy who was with me, the real estate agent, said, ‘You found it, didn’t you?’ I love the vibe. For our customer, it’s perfect.”
Like the stores in Canada, the RiNo space will include a “playground” with bikes, swings and monkey bars that customers can use to try out the jeans for comfort and mobility.
The pandemic has reduced the number of DUER employees in Denver preparing for the opening. The person heading the preparations will have to go into quarantine for two weeks on returning to Canada, as will Lenett after visiting Denver.
However, Lenett said the pandemic has posed few disruptions for the company. DUER has its own factory overseas. There have been some issues with some smaller items produced elsewhere, “but nothing we haven’t been able to overcome.”
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September 29, 2020 at 07:00PM
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Canadian performance-wear company chooses Denver for its first international store - The Denver Post
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