Keeping with the freebie theme, I accompanied Kurt, his boss, and a few other fellows to a new store opening in SoHo Thursday evening. This wasn't just any opening. It was the first shop in the US for the New Zealand brand Icebreaker. Kurt's boss Steven, a Kiwi (someone from New Zealand) himself, got Kurt an Icebreaker long sleeve shirt a couple years ago and Kurt wears it nonstop. If he's not wearing a Homage shirt or some other Ohio State paraphernalia, he probably has this shirt on. Sadly, it's starting to show its age, so Kurt was thrilled to hear about the new shop AND for the opening, they were having a 50% off friends and family sale. I, on the other hand, was thrilled about the reception including New Zealand wine, beer, and hors d'oeuvres.
Icebreaker's clothing is made using Merino wool from sheep in New Zealand. It's soft, light, and warm which makes it great for outdoorsy activities. Plus, it's washable (which I guess most wools are not). Kurt was always amazed at how warm his shirt has been even though it is relatively thin.
The store was jam packed with people. We didn't expect it to be so crowded. I was also very surprised to see tons of people in line with armfuls of clothing. Even at 50%, most of the stuff was out of my price range. My lifestyle doesn't exactly demand high performance clothing, so I wasn't very interested anyway. However, I've never seen a group of guys so excited about shopping. Kurt and the others bounced around the store while I tried to occupy a small corner, enjoy my wine, and chit chat with another friend not seduced by goods.
The line wrapped all throughout the store, so the staff finally offered people the chance to put their items on layaway and come get them the next day still with the 50% discount.
This freed up all the shoppers to actually enjoy the party and its, err, entertainment. I think this guy was illustrating the insulation value of wool. He was a trooper and wore that ram's head...and not much else...for hours. Not a bad party!
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