The oldest Skyliner in the Eddie Bauer Archives, circa 1940. “He realized what he needed was a really breathable, warm jacket that he wouldn’t have to take off when he was working strenuously in the cold.” But despite the scary experience, “he wasn’t about to give up winter fishing or hunting,” Berg says. If Bauer had been by himself, he might not have survived. He pulled it out and fired two shots to alert his friend, who came back to get him and helped him to the car. Thankfully, Bauer was carrying a revolver. “All that moisture froze in the cold and the snow, and he was getting hypothermic. “He was literally falling asleep on his feet, nodding off,” Berg says. When he reached the top of the canyon, he stopped and leaned against a tree to rest. The car was a mile away, and the 200- to 300-foot climb out of the river canyon was steep. As they hiked, Bauer-wet from his bag of fish and sweating profusely-began to fall behind his friend. That cold, snowy January day, their haul was 100 pounds, and they stripped off their heavy wool mackinaw jackets, climbing out of the canyon in just their wool shirts and long underwear.
The pair headed to a canyon in the Olympic Peninsula, where they fished for steelhead. The shop might have stayed a small but successful business if not for a fishing trip Bauer took with his friend Red Carlson, a trapper from Alaska, in January 1935. His small shop was successful, with a reputation not just for quality goods but also a knowledgeable staff.įor someone who had a passion for hunting and fishing, owning an outfitting shop was the best thing ever: “My business was also my hobby,” Bauer said. “People knew that if something was in Eddie Bauer’s store, we had personally put it to a rugged test,” he said. “If I needed equipment that wasn’t available elsewhere, I developed it myself.” If you’ve ever played badminton, for example, you’ve used the shuttlecock Bauer developed and patented.īauer backed everything in his shop with a lifetime guarantee-a rare thing in the ‘20s, and something Bauer called “my greatest contribution to the consumer … that guarantee was part of what I sold”-and he only hired people who, like him, were adept at outdoor pursuits.
“If I didn’t trust the equipment, it wasn’t stocked,” he once said. According to company historian Colin Berg, Eddie Bauer’s Tennis Shop operated for about a year-just enough time for Bauer to save enough money to open his own storefront.īauer’s Sports Shop was a hunting, fishing, and sporting goods store, but Bauer was more than just a merchandiser, he was an outdoorsman, too, and developed gear based on his own needs and the needs of his clients. The Little Shop That Couldīauer was just 21 when he started his business in 1920, renting 15 square feet of space inside another man’s gun shop in downtown Seattle and stringing tennis rackets. Photo courtesy of the Eddie Bauer Archives. Bauer outside of his store at 215 Seneca, Seattle.
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