Trailblazer opening Denali store in Trumbull

Guilford-based outdoor clothing retailer Trailblazer is opening at a new location for its concept store, Denali.

The new store is opposite the Cheesecake Factory in the Westfield Trumbull mall, said Karen Brown, marketing manager for Trailblazer. Brown said the Trumbull location will open sometime in the middle of next week and celebrate its grand opening Sept. 5.

“Trumbull is wonderful community that has lots of outdoor enthusiasts and is a nurturing, caring community for people,” Brown said Friday.

The opening of the Trumbull mall store marks the first foray that Trailblazer and Denali have made in Fairfield County. Trailblazer opened its first store in 1994 and opened its first Denali store in 2008 to focus on two of the more popular outdoor wear lines, The North Face and Merrell Shoes.

Denali has a second store in Wakefield, Rhode Island, near the University of Rhode Island. Denali had opened a third store in 2012 at Cheshire’s Maplecroft Plaza, but the store closed in September 2014 after less than two years in business.

“When we see an opportunity that we think is right for us, we take it,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, the Cheshire location didn’t work out, although we met a lot of great people and organizations.”

There are three Trailblazer locations: New Haven, Branford and at the Shops at Mohegan Sun.

Paul Sabina, district marketing director for Westfield Properties, said Denali “embodies the active, outdoor lifestyle that resonates so well with our shoppers at Westfield Trumbull, making it a great addition to our evolving offering of retail and dining options.”

“We are always seeking new stores to elevate the overall shopping experience, and Denali’s commitment to providing exceptional customer service and the best selection of quality brands is exactly what our shoppers are looking for when they visit Westfield Trumbull,” Sabina said in a statement.

As it does in

all of

its Trailblazer and Denali locations, the company will become active in the community, making donations from a nonprofit that it created last September. The mission and focus of The Denali Foundation is to support activities that “work toward getting kids outdoors,” Brown said.

The Trumbull store was designed to make customers feel as if they are entering a forest edge, a small clearing where there are remnants of long past buildings and occupants, said Laura Pirie, the architect who designed the new location.

“The balance of new products and high-performance technology with reclaimed and ‘untouched’ materials such as bark-on tree poles illustrates that it is possible to create balance with nature,” Pirie said in a statement.

Brown said Trailblazer is exploring the possibility of opening several new stores over the next year, but said she was unable to provide further details.