Topo Designs opened their first Los Angeles store on Larchmont, at 138 N. Larchmont taking the former Midland space. Larchmont is their third California store, for the Denver-based company, there are two in San Francisco. They have 11 stores in total.
Store manager Morgan Stuart, an outdoor enthusiast herself, told the Buzz Larchmont felt like the perfect location when the company’s founders were looking for a space to open their first LA store.
“Owners Jedd Rose and Mark Hansen loved the community around Larchmont, the great foot traffic on the street and the central location in the city near climbing gyms and hiking trails,” said Stuart. “Looking at the other shops on the street, it seemed like we could fill in a missing piece so they decided to go for it.”
Once they settled on the space, Stuart got the store open in just two weeks.
Topo Designs was founded by Rose and Hansen in 2008 because they were looking for outdoor gear that suited their sense of style classic styling, functionality, and durability, explained Stuart. The name is a reference to the word topography.
According to the company’s website, Rose bought a sewing machine and began designing and creating packs in his Fort Collins basement, while Hansen set out around Denver and the front range looking for resources and partners needed to build those designs.
The company was built on the Rover Pak, explained Stuart, which now comes is several sizes offering various functions.
“Our brand is rooted in versatility and accessibility,” said Stuart. “We want people to have products that are good for your everyday use and versatile for outdoor use. We blend those things together in something we call “New Outdoor” which is a more inclusive definition of outdoor.”
The travel bags work together and can be customized with additional straps to attach to each other offering greater functionality and uses.
Sustainability is also important to the company. They pledge to use recycled raw materials for their bags and clothing in the next 3 to 5 years and to reduce the amount of virgin materials they use every season, driving towards a line of packs and bags made completely of recycled materials.
“Our hope is that we can produce very durable items that will last a lifetime,” said Stuart. “We have a lifetime warranty on our bags because we don’t want to bags to be thrown away.”
This weekend Topo is having a sale so it’s the perfect time to check it out. And, Buzz readers who mention this story will get 20% off a regular-priced item!
