Athleta To Have Grand Opening In Milford On Tuesday

MILFORD, CT — When the management team at Athleta, Milford's new store for women's activewear, wanted to promote their brand to potential customers, they didn't have to go far.

Located at 1672 Boston Post Road in Milford Marketplace, in the former home of Lane Bryant, Athleta is just a few doors down from Orangetheory Fitness, a gym.

"While we were setting up the store, we were raiding Orangetheory, where people line up outside (before working out), and handing out shop cards to promote and get (our name) out there," Diana Malone, general manager of Athleta in Milford, told Patch.

But Athleta's promotion hardly stopped there.

"Our outreach in the community also included daycare centers, to get moms to come and shop here," Malone said. "Our shop has a little bit of everything. A lot of people, when they think of Athleta, they think fitness. But we like to think we're inclusive of everyone, not just people who work out."

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, Athleta will open its doors officially and Milford Mayor Benjamin Blake is scheduled to be there at 1 p.m. for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The first 50 customers to make a purchase on Opening Day will receive an Athleta swag bag, which Malone said will include self-care goodies, an Athleta shop card and coupons for other local businesses.

Also on Tuesday, a community table will be set up outside Athleta’s front door, giving local businesses an hour apiece to promote their own products and services.

The new Athleta store will be approximately 3,700 square feet and Malone said the store expects to maintain a staff of about 19, including four leaders. Owned by Gap Inc., Athleta's other area stores are in Westport, Greenwich, Avon and Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Malone said the brand is committed to the core values of empowering women and community outreach.

"We're about inclusive sizing, diversity and inclusion," Malone said. "(Also) any time our employees volunteer in the community, they log those hours, and (based on reaching a certain number of hours) Gap Inc. will donate grant money to organizations of our choice."

Athleta also is B-Corp certified, which means it has been judged as a company having a positive impact on employees, the community and the environment.

But Athleta's core business remains creating comfortable, versatile clothing for women and girls.

"We have performance lifestyle apparel and transitional apparel, from day to night, and to work, a little bit of everything," Malone said. "We have yoga tights and running shorts for high-performance activity, but also apparel that women can wear any time, any day and anywhere."

Malone hinted that the last 15 months, where many people have been working from home, has not been bad for Athleta's business.

"It's funny, we're one of the only brands that has been able to open stores during the pandemic," Malone said. "It's going well (for us) amidst everything,"