Outpost: Treasures at Every Turn

Claudia Coleman did a lot of traveling before returning home to open Outpost, a new store on 75th Street in Darien.

Coleman’s roots in this area go back to a time before Darien was a city. Relatives moved to Tennessee Avenue in 1953. And Coleman was living in the at Plainfield Road and Cass Avenue when her son was born in 1971.

Changes in her family situation led to changes in location. Coleman moved around the country, from Chicago to Aspen to Houston and places in between.

Fourteen years later, she was working as a producer and director for Good Morning America when she met her future husband, meteorologist John Coleman. They moved to Atlanta and began to ponder their future.

“We thought if they can do news 24 hours, can’t we do weather 24 hours?” she explained. It took four years to get the funding, but they were finally able to launch The Weather Channel. Later losing it in a corporate takeover put a lot of stress on their relationship.

The Colemans moved to New York where John worked again as a meteorologist. While on vacation on Florida, the general manager of Chicago’s NBC affiliate, Channel 5, called and said he wanted John back in Chicago.

The Colemans moved to Burr Ridge, where they lived for about three years. But their marriage had suffered too much. John now works in San Diego, and Claudia lives in Darien.

Coleman and one of her sisters opened their first gift shop 17 years ago, and have owned shops in Chicago’s Old Town and in Willowbrook.

“We decided to open one because, I have three sisters, and anytime I’d go out for their birthday or Christmas or any holiday or gift-giving reason of any kind, I would go to a gift shop and it would be the same thing," she said. "I mean, it would be exactly the same thing I bought her last year. And what I bought her three months ago. There was nothing new!”

Their biggest shock was in realizing just how much merchandise it takes to fill a shop.

Their first shop in Willowbrook was 2,000 square feet. They made a trip to Michigan and brought back two or three carloads of large items, including wagon wheels, huge cabinets and tables.

“It looked like the teeniest little pile of things when it was in the store,” she laughed. “We looked at each other and said, ‘We are in so much trouble! We have to fill this store up.’ It’s way more money than you think it’s going to be. Whatever you think it’s going to be, triple it.”

When Coleman lost her sister, she had no desire to return to the corporate world. She decided to stick with something she knew well, in a place close to home. So on July 15, she opened Outpost in the small shopping center at Plainfield Road and 75^th Street.

“I think it’s a great thing to do, and there’s nothing quite like it here. I just really like this area. I like the people,” she explained. “It’s called ‘Outpost’ because I didn’t want it to be ‘Claudia’s Closet’ or ‘Claudia’s Attic.’ I want men to feel comfortable walking in here, and I do have some things for men.”

Outpost is a reflection of Coleman's personality.

“If I love it, I buy it,” she explained. “I have new things all the time. I try to really change up things constantly.” She plays upbeat music, and her parakeets, Mitch and Shirley, observe everything from behind the counter.

“Outpost is fun,” she beamed. “I try to have a party here all day. I try to keep a lot of energy in the store. Nothing in this store is serious. I have nothing in this store that people need, only what they want.”

Coleman loves helping customers who have no idea what to get someone. She said they leave her store with the comment, “You always have the perfect thing!”

“I’m different and I’m easy,” she said. “Prices are incredibly affordable. If I get a good deal, you get a good deal. I’ve got what you want.

“I love Darien. I think it’s a great area to grow up and have kids. I’m just really glad I’m here.”

Outpost is located at 737 Plainfield Road, next to , in the shopping center just east of the intersection of Plainfield Road and 75^th Street. The phone number is 630-323-6800, and the email address is outpostcompany@gmail.com.