In this age of cookie-cutter retailers, Filson is unlike any other store in Colorado, which is home to so many outdoors-loving residents. The Cherry Creek store, abercrombie and fitch in fact, is one of only three Filson stores in the world and when it opened 3 ? years ago, became Filson’s first store anywhere other than at the C.C. Filson Company’s Seattle headquarters.
Filson itself has been serving outdoors lovers since 1897, selling rugged quality clothing and accessories through its catalogue and authorized dealers. In Colorado, those who can’t make it in to the Cherry Creek emporium can find Filson abercrombie and fitch authorized stores in Telluride (Black Bear Trading), Colorado Springs (Burlap Bag), Fort Collins (Jax Outdoor Gear), and Steamboat Springs (Zirkel Trading), among other outlets. Customers can also browse and order from the Filson web site, www.filson.com.
The Filson line, itself, is a throwback to the days long ago when abercrombie and fitch focused on the upscale hunting and fisherman markets. Marry that with Nordstrom-caliber customer service and voila, you wind up with a shopping experience extraordinaire.
Kevin Salsbury, a graduate of Denver South High School, is the lucky man who Filson tapped to open the Cherry Creek store and he has been its manager from opening day.
As Tobee stretches, walks abercrombie and fitch freely through the store and mooches doggie treats, Salsbury tells me Filson’s motto is “Might As Well Have The Best.” Among the most popular items in the store are Filson’s Tin Cloth Hunting Jacket ($195) and Mackinaw Cruiser ($279.50), which was first designed by company founder Clinton C. Filson in 1914 to keep timbermen warm no matter the elements.
While Tobee’s owner, J.C. McMullen is an actual hunter who loved the store so much as a customer he went to work for it, I took a liking to the store based on the look, feel and functionality of its male-dominated line. This is truly a “Men’s Store,” although Filson does have a growing selection of women’s clothes and accessories and Tobee could purchase a wool-lined dog coat or dog bed if she was so inclined.
Whether you are headed out to enjoy Colorado’s many fields and streams for Labor Day weekend or if you merely want to navigate the white-collar forests of Downtown Denver’s high-rises, Filson can outfit you stylishly and comfortably.
When I visited Filson with my wife and abercrombie and fitch teenage daughter this week, Tobee was so happy to get attention from my daughter that the Labrador literally knocked her off her feet with kisses.
As my wife observed, that never happened once to her when she dropped by the A&F in Los Angeles. The friendliest greeting my wife ever got from the beefcake doorman was a warm smile.
