California-based Patagonia will open in March near Colts Chocolates, Yazoo

Patagonia, the environmentally focused retailer and brand that offers women’s and men’s outdoor wear and soft gear such as backpacks, is prepping to unveil its first shop in Nashville in The Gulch.

To open March 1, the California-based business will operate in a building located at 601 Overton St., according to the company's website. That structure will also house Tex-Mex restaurant Superica (read more here). This specific segment of The Gulch is recognized as the home to Rudy’s Jazz Room, Colts Chocolates, Yazoo Brewing and Exit Realty Elite, among others.

Though various area retailers, including Cumberland Transit, offer the brand, this will be Tennessee’s first Patagonia company store. The Patagonia located within the closest proximity to Nashville is in Atlanta. That store is the only (of about 32 nationally) located in a Southeast state. Patagonia can be found in 17 states and in Washington, D.C.

MarketStreet Enterprises, the Metro-appointed master developer of The Gulch, owns the Overton Street building.

Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973 and based in Ventura, California, Patagonia eventually declared bankruptcy in 1989. At that point, it split into Black Diamond Equipment (which sells climbing gear) and a reinvented Patagonia selling soft goods clothing and accessories.

Patagonia devotes 1 percent of its sales to environmental groups via One Percent for the Planet, an organization for which Chouinard was a founding member.

Patagonia had about 2,000 employees. It does not disclose annual revenue.

