HOUSTON — Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Yeti has opened its first standalone store in Houston.
The 3,400 square-foot Yeti store is located at 4048 Westheimer in Highland Village.
It features a Yeti Garage where customers can customize their gear and a cooler tested by a real bear.
"People in Texas will brag that their cooler is grizzly-proof, even though there's not a grizzly within 1,000 miles," co-founder Roy Seiders told Inc.com magazine.
Along with the latest in Yeti gear, the store includes accessories and replacement parts.
This is Yeti's ninth standalone store nationwide and fourth in Texas. The other locations include two stores in Austin, Dallas, Charleston, Chicago, Denver, Fort Lauderdale and Scottsdale.
The Austin-based retailer was founded in 2006 by Roy and brother Ryan Seiders who shared a passion for the outdoors.
"We were raised with an appreciation for wild game, unfamiliar territory, and high-quality gear," their website says.
After replacing coolers that couldn't handle the brothers' wear and tear and "abuse" each year, the brothers decided to design their own heavy-duty versions with hefty price tags to much.
Yeti later branched into other areas and expanded its cult following into a $600 million business, according to Forbes.
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