In case you didn’t hear, Healdsburg menswear staple Outlander closed last weekend after over a quarter-century at 103 Plaza St. Married-couple owners Bill and Chris Bryant, who still plan to keep running the One-o-One women’s boutique next door, recently hinted to the Press Democrat that Outlander would be replaced by another men’s clothing shop. Indeed — industry rag MR Magazine is now reporting that a menswear brand called Patrick James will be moving into the space. The president of Patrick James, a guy named Pat MonPere, says he has known the Bryants for some time and wants to pick up where they left off. He’s even planning to keep running the shop under the name Outlander through end of summer. (Hot tip, BTW — although the store is technically closed right now, I hear they’re still selling off a bunch of nice clothes and fixtures and tools and stuff for cheap, if you wanna stop by and try your luck.)
Another interesting aspect of this transition: It looks like Patrick James just barely falls outside the definition of a “formula business” in the proposed city ban currently on the table. The company says it currently has nine West Coast locations, including one in Santa Rosa and one that’s about to close in Reno — and Healdsburg’s chain-store ban, as I understand it, would only rule out shops with 10 or more locations. Wild.
But moving on, here’s what Pat tells MR Magazine about his plans for the new Healdsburg store:
“The Outlander has had a sterling reputation in the community for many years; we’re excited for the opportunity to continue in that location. … We have our store in Santa Rosa about 20 miles away and they will share some customers, but we envision the Healdsburg location as more of a boutique approach, focused on luxury items. Our research indicates that the customer base on average is 80% tourists, 20% local. So in some ways, the Healdsburg store will be similar to our Carmel location, giving our catalog and web clients the opportunity to pop into one of our brick-and-mortar stores while on vacation.”
