Take It Outside Celebrates Grand Opening Of New Halifax Location
HALIFAX–After launching her newest outdoor fashion retailer in Halifax last October, Sue Stanfield is happy to have finally celebrated its official grand opening.
Stanfield owns Take it Outside and The Trail Shop. She said the official opening of the Take It Outside Elevated location, at 1980 Vernon Street, took place in May – as soon as it was possible to bring people ou in significant numbers to enjoy the milestone for her growing empire of outdoor fashion shops.
She said that, although the company faced some inventory shortages on account of supply chain woes earlier in the year, those have been rectified and the retail locations across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are now operating smoothly.
“It was satisfying and so nice to finally have people in and just to catch up with family and friends and celebrate the store,” said Stanfield. “We’ve got a lot of great products and we’re excited to celebrate the opening of a new location.”
Stanfield stressed that the Elevated location is different from Take It Outside’s other locations because guests are given a personalized shopping profile that staff use to guide them.
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“It’s all about catering to the needs of people no matter what they’re looking for,” she said.
Shoppers can consult Elevated’s staff of six, who can send packages to their home or office where they can try on and buy what they want.
“For example, you go into the store and look around and think, ‘oh my goodness, there’s so much stuff,’ staff can help find what you’re looking at if the options are overwhelming. It’s more of a catered experience to shoppers,” said Stanfield, who is the wife of John Stanfield, the president and CEO of Truro-based underwear giant Stanfield’s Ltd.
This shopping process can be augmented by the Checkmate Experience app that Stanfield introduced to the chain in 2020.
Stanfield’s other retail chain, The Trail Shop, sells goods and accessories for camping, kayaking, and hiking. Take It Outside is focused on the casual-chic side, catering to fashion with an outdoorsy flair.
The Trail Shop has two locations in Nova Scotia, one in Truro and one in Halifax, as well as a shop in Moncton. Take It Outside shares a berth with the Trail Shop in Moncton and Truro, and has one location at Dartmouth Crossing.
This summer, Stanfield is planning a schedule of outdoor events linked to the two stores.
“We’ve had a few over the last few months that have been trail-related, cooking in the wilderness, shopping parties, that kind of thing,” Stanfield said.
“It’s a lot of hiking and exploring your local area. The workshops are more focused on if you’re new to getting outside, like the Women in the Wilderness event we had in Moncton last week. We also had a Hike the Dobson Trial workshop and we’ll be having a variety of more events like that.”
These will be similar to the many workshops – like the packing workshop, talks about hiking and camping expeditions, VIP shop nights, and wine and cheese nights – the company has hosted in Nova Scotia in the past.
“We want to get to know people and what they’re doing; it’s a great way to give the customer a different experience than just a transaction,” said Stanfield.
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The Moncton retail location for both the Trail Shop and Take It Outside, located in a 6,000-square-foot berth at 50 Granite Drive, opened in March.
Stanfield said the Moncton locations of both businesses have been good fits for the local market.
“We’re happy with the response we’re getting in terms of filling the void in the Moncton area because Moncton is such a high-growth and exciting city right now. It’s a good match for us,” Stanfield said.
The Moncton location has about a dozen employees.
“There are a lot of things at the Moncton store, it’s really fully loaded with outdoor gear and lifestyle goods, so people are spending a lot of time exploring their local areas kayaking, camping, and hiking. There’s a big shift in people leaving the house again, going back to work, getting out of their yoga pants, and starting to get dressed again,” Stanfield said.
Stanfield founded Take It Outside in 2012 and purchased the Trail Shop, a long-time Quinpool Road business, from its previous owners, the Trail Shop Co-operative Ltd., in 2017.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].