Outdoor Voices is now open in South End

Why it matters: Charlotte’s landed several coveted national retailers — from the RH rooftop restaurant to Barry’s – that shoppers have been clamoring for. This underscores how big brands see Charlotte as a smart place to do business.

• Outdoor Voices’ expansion into Charlotte is another sign major companies have their eyes on us.
• OV ranks alongside Zara, Wegmans and CB2 as national chains that Charlotteans crave.
• [Axios related story: Zara, Wegmans, Wawa and 9 other retailers Charlotte wants]

What it is: Outdoor Voices is an Austin-based athletic clothing company with a loyal following, especially among millennials. They carry leggings, sports bras and the famed $100 exercise dress, which became especially popular during the pandemic. 

• The hashtag “exercise dress” has 10M+ views on TikTok as it became the unofficial uniform of the pandemic for many millennial women.

The new South End location carries womenswear, unisex apparel and menswear.

• It quietly opened last month, in the space on Camden next to Allbirds.

The luxury brand fits right in with Charlotte, a city that’s embraced retailers like the ones at Atherton Mill,  just down the street from the Lowe’s tower.

• Atherton houses other trendy chains like Lululemon, Anthropologie, Warby Parker, Cava, Barry’s and Free People — all with customer bases similar to OV’s.

Of note: Nationwide, millions of office workers have traded in their pencil skirts for sweatpants and leggings. As a result, demand for athleisure has surged, as CNN and others have reported.

So far, the brand has about a dozen brick-and-mortar locations, including in Houston, Chicago, L.A., New York, Dallas and D.C. This is its first in North Carolina.