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Wrangler Opens 'Pop-Up' Store In Downtown Greensboro

Wrangler employees set up displays for the new pop up store located at 314 S. Elm St. in downtown Greensboro. Photo courtesy of Wrangler photographer Kevin Spencer.

The shop, opening Friday, is one of several ways jeans company Wrangler is celebrating 70 years of denim-making in North Carolina.

The Wrangler brand is owned by Greensboro apparel giant VF Corp. The company employs around 800 people in Greensboro.

The city has been honoring the company's textile heritage over the past year with things like jean statues and "Jeansboro Day.” Wrangler already has two flagship stores in the U.S. but the pop-up will be extra special because it will highlight the company's history.

It's filled with everything from Wrangler Cowboy cut original jeans to more modern products from the company's Europe and Peter Max collections.

There's even a chance for the public to watch sewing experts customize their denim purchases.

“We've never had a Wrangler store in Greensboro,” says Vice President of Marketing Craig Errington. "We've had an employee store over the years that's been open to employees, but we've never had a store that's actually been open to the community and the public as well, so to do that is really exciting for us.”

The store is located in the former Miller Furniture building on S. Elm Street. The company says it received a major update, but it was also able to preserve some of the original hardwood floors and stone facing exterior.

Errington says the store will also feature a line with Greensboro roots.

“One of the most interesting and exciting collections in the store is our 27406 collection, which is the zip code of where these jeans are being sewn on the south side of downtown Greensboro. The actual denim for these products will come straight from the Cone White Oak plant in Greensboro, so the 'made in Greensboro' collection is something that we are really proud of.”

Errington says the pop-up store is temporary and will be open through the end of January. It will also serve as a test center for the company to learn more about retail concepts and consumer trends.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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