Rudolph Bell

dbell@greenvillenews.com

Downtown Greenville will get another major retailer this fall when Orvis, an outdoor gear and apparel chain with a big reputation among fly fishers, opens its second store in South Carolina at the One development.

A spokeswoman for the Vermont-based chain on Monday confirmed the plans, as did Hughes Development Corp., the One developer.

Hughes Development said the store would occupy a corner space of 5,000 square feet at the intersection of Washington Street and the new One City Plaza.

The space, currently vacant, is located next to Tupelo Honey Café and a construction site where a parking garage is being built that will eventually have an Aloft Hotel on top of it.

The Orvis store will feature a full line of hunting and fishing equipment, apparel and supplies, according to Hughes Development Corp.

"Orvis is great equipment," said Bob Bishop, a fly fisherman from Greenville who said he has seven of the company's rods. "I've always found the stores quite friendly and accommodating."

Orvis spokeswoman Daryl Kenny said she wasn't immediately sure Monday how many workers the store would employ. Each of the chain's stores is unique, she said, designed for its specific location.

The only other Orvis store in South Carolina is in Myrtle Beach, though the brand is sold by authorized outlets and dealers elsewhere around the state.

The 158-year-old retailer says it is America's oldest mail order outfitter and longest continually operating fly fishing business.

In addition to its well-known fly-fishing equipment, Orvis sells a wide assortment of sportswear for men and women, gifts, home furnishings, luggage, pet items, shotguns, knives and sporting clays, according to its website.

Orvis has 64 stores and 11 outlets in the United States and another 20 stores in the United Kingdom. The company also sells online and through a catalog and independent dealers, and it offers fishing and shooting lessons and vacation packages.

Hughes Development also is the landlord for three other apparel retailers at One – Brooks Bros., Anthropologie and Cone & Coleman Collection.

In addition, Hughes Development recruited the Taz Boutique to retail space in the Bank of America office tower along One City Plaza. Together, the stores form a new fashion goods cluster in the middle of Main Street.

Cabela's, another big name in outdoor gear, opened its first South Carolina store at the Magnolia Park shopping center on Woodruff Road in April.

In a separate but related development, Hughes Development said the U.S. Green Building Council had given the One development its LEED Gold certification.

The council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program recognizes the best strategies and practices in so-called "green" building.

One is now the largest LEED Gold building in South Carolina, according to Hughes Development.