wiwaterfowlers.com Forums

[jasper]

Outdoor lifestyle retailer Orvis Co. will open its first Milwaukee-area store this year at Glendale's Bayshore Town Center, in a 6,000-square-foot space next to Erehwon Mountain Outfitters.

Orvis, the oldest catalog retailer in the United States, is best known for its history as a seller of fly-fishing gear. But these days, the company also offers high-end clothing, furniture and accessories to complement the outdoor lifestyle.

The Bayshore location will be the second in Wisconsin for the Manchester, Vt.-based chain. The company has a store at Greenway Station in Middleton. The new store is expected to open in late summer.

"It finishes off that whole corridor," said Bayshore manager Christian Jaeger. Orvis will be a good companion retailer to Erehwon, which opened late last year. "We're trying to appeal to the outdoor enthusiast lifestyle."

Orvis celebrated 150 years in business in 2006. From its roots as a home-based fly-fishing rod business, the company grew into a mail-order business offering a wide line of gear. Orvis' flagship store in Manchester opened in 1956.

The company is privately owned by the family of Leigh H. Perkins, who bought Orvis in 1965. Orvis operates 45 stores and supplies products to 400 independently owned retailers who operate stores under other names.

In addition, Orvis has revenue from fly-fishing classes and a vacation business. The direct-to-consumer retail business, via catalog and online, remains the largest part of the business, said Tory Myler, Orvis spokesman.

The Bayshore store will include a full-service fly shop, men's and women's clothing, items for dogs and home merchandise, Myler said.


http://www.jsonline.com/business/84075257.html
_________________
"When you have shot one bird flying you have shot all birds flying. They are all different and they fly in different ways but the sensation is the same and the last one is as good as the first." Ernest Hemingway