Between and , Bauer took out more than 20 patents for a wide range of outdoor clothing and sporting equipment, including the down parka. The U. Bauer also produced a quarter of a million sleeping bags and countless other items to meet military orders. Of all government suppliers, he alone was granted permission to affix his label to his products, a move that raised product awareness and built a market for his merchandise after the war ended.
Bauer began selling products through a mail-order catalog in By , he was employing seamstresses to meet customer demand. Mail orders were so strong that he soon closed his downtown store and got out of retailing, except for showroom sales at his Seattle factory.
In , Bauer retired and sold the company to a business partner, William Niemi, and a few other investors. They opened a retail store in San Francisco, but soon sold the entire business to General Mills.
When General Mills bought the Eddie Bauer company, in , it consisted of one retail store and a mail order business. General Mills turned it into a major retailer, with 61 outlets by The aggressive expansion continued after General Mills sold the company to Spiegel, originally an Illinois-based catalog company, in More than Eddie Bauer stores were opened during the next eight years.
Some of these stores sold not only clothing but home furnishings, including wood and upholstered furniture, tableware, and linens for bedroom and bath. By , Eddie Bauer stores and catalog distribution centers were being opened in Germany and Japan. He was told to unpack the archive and expand it. It was the beginning of a new era. Inside the interior room he curates moveable racks filled with hundreds of vintage garments, each with an accompanying story.
Adventuring millennials have grown up knowing Eddie Bauer only for comfortable clothing, special-edition Fords and house wares, but the company was at one point a legend in American outdoor outfitting. In , as part of the war effort, Bauer provided thousands of flying suits, and later sleeping bags, for servicemen stationed in Alaska and Europe.
However, these round-the-clock efforts eventually turned Eddie Bauer into a national brand, even if indirectly.
The soldiers began writing to Bauer from all over the nation, helping to spur the huge mail-order catalogue business the company became known for. The rest of the s were characterized by continued attempts at first ascents, and the Kara Koram was used all over the world.
The material had been used in sleeping bags for years and, at the suggestion of the climbing team, Bauer used it as the outer shell of his parka to keep the weight low but maintain durability. This material was then used in the most extreme parka ever made by Bauer, the Mt. Everest Parka, in The year marked a drastic turning point for the company.
Even consumer attitudes began to change. So they airbrushed the deer out. This was before the days of photoshopping. Afterward, Eddie was just standing there by himself. Pictured Above: Eddie Bauer Mt. An avid outdoors man, Bauer parlayed his interests into a successful business based on quality products and serving consumer satisfaction. Eddie was the youngest child in the Bauer family. Orcas Island was a sportsman's paradise, with abundant supplies of fish and wildlife.
As a child, Bauer was interested in the natural world that surrounded him. His father encouraged these interests. Young Eddie wanted to own his equipment for hunting and fishing. When he was eight years old, he received his first hunting rifle, an Winchester. To make money, Bauer worked as a golf caddy and did odd jobs, beginning at the age of ten. In , Bauer's parents separated. He continued to pursue his hunting and fishing hobbies, and began playing tennis as well. Bauer hoped to have his own store and spent two years studying part time to achieve this goal.
It was called Eddie Bauer's Tennis Shop. Bauer designed a special vice for stringing tennis rackets that was quite popular among his customers, and soon developed a reputation for his expert stringing. Eddie Bauer's Tennis Shop was only open during the tennis season. Bauer spent the rest of the year pursuing his own sportsman activities. Eventually, the shop changed its name to Eddie Bauer's Sports Shop, and sold equipment for all kinds of outdoor activities, including golf.
In , Bauer attracted customers by giving them an unconditional guarantee, unheard of in that era. The creed for his business was, according the Eddie Bauer website: "To give you such outstanding quality, value, service and guarantee that we may be worthy of your high esteem.
Bauer married the former Christine "Stine" Heltborg on February 21, Like her husband, the beauty shop owner was enthusiastic about hunting, fishing, skiing, and other outdoor activities. The couple had one son, Eddie Christian Bauer. When Bauer could not find a product he wanted to sell, he designed, manufactured, and distributed it himself. One of the early examples of this practice was fly-fishing ties, which Bauer made by hand. In , he took out a patent in the United States and Canada on what was called the "Bauer shuttlecock.
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