DUER, the Vancouver apparel brand behind Performance Jeanswear, has expanded to the Winnipeg market with the opening of its store in Manitoba at CF Polo Park set for Saturday August 29.
Gary Lenett, company Founder, said the brand already had the demand, years of wholesale and ecommerce telling it people there love the product.
“The only real question was where one store could reach the most of them. Polo Park settled that fast, more than 200 stores under one roof, pulling shoppers in from as far as Thunder Bay and Saskatchewan. And with winters like Manitoba’s, people would rather shop indoors than run between stores outside,” he said.
“We opened Banff in July, and Winnipeg is our third new store this year. Polo Park is about making sure we’ve got a real presence in the bigger Canadian centre, and Banff is the other side of that same push, proof we can reach a global customer without opening overseas, at least not yet.
“Winnipeg and Banff don’t look like they have much in common, but the test’s the same: has the demand already shown up before we sign a lease.”
Because the brand has built out a new category, Performance Jeanswear, the store ends up doing a lot of the educating: what the category actually is and what problem it solves.
“People need to see the style and feel the performance for themselves. Once someone actually puts a pair of our pants on, we convert them at about 80% and that’s the number that keeps us investing in stores,” explained Lenett.
“Victoria and Banff taught us something else: they’re both tourist markets, and both did better than we expected going in. That’s got us looking at smaller, less permanent shops in resort towns, a way to meet that same demand without the size or lease term of a full store.”
Lenett said the Manitoba market has the same target customer, men and women 30 to 45 who lead an active, urban lifestyle.
“What shifts is the assortment. Winnipeg’s winters run longer and colder, so we lean into the winter denim collection, and the hero piece is our Tech Fleece denim. It’s the same approach we take in Ossington, Ottawa and Square One, warm, breathable fabrics that are sophisticated enough to wear anywhere,” he noted.
Lenett said the retailer has mapped 10 additional stores over the next 24 months, though Canadian retail is only one part of that vision.
“A second location in Vancouver, expansion into Montreal, maybe Saskatoon. But Seattle, a second San Francisco, and Salt Lake City is where a lot of the real growth sits,” he said.
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