Cleverhood among new tenants in west side

Cleverhood LLC, a Providence-based outerwear company, will occupy retail and office space in this newly renovated building at 425 W. Fountain St. in the west side of Providence. The building renovation was completed by The Armory Revival Co. / PBN PHOTO/MARY MACDONALD
Cleverhood LLC, a Providence-based outerwear company, will occupy retail and office space in this newly renovated building at 425 W. Fountain St. in the west side of Providence. The building renovation was completed by The Armory Revival Co. / PBN PHOTO/MARY MACDONALD

PROVIDENCE – The west side has gained several new business tenants. Cleverhood LLC, a Providence-based outerwear company, recently moved from Clifford Street, in the Jewelry District, to newly renovated space at 425 W. Fountain St., an area that has attracted residential conversions and now is adding more retail.
The company, founded in 2010, will occupy retail and office space in a corner unit in what formerly was an auto repair shop. The building renovation was completed by The Armory Revival Co., which purchased the property in 2006, originally intending to redevelop the site.
Other tenants soon to arrive include City Aiki and Devine City Cycle, as well as a restaurant.
“The whole west side is coming around now and filling up with people who want to go out and do things, and (buy) things,” said Mark Van Noppen, vice president and managing director for the Armory Revival Co.
The 7,000-square-foot renovated building features a mural by artist Buck Hastings, which helped to transform the exterior of the former industrial space. The original bay doors of the garage were replaced with glass storefronts for the retail tenants, according to Van Noppen.
The shops share a parking lot with some 93 spaces, which is shared with tenants at West Fountain Lofts, also remade by Armory Revival.
Each of the retail spaces in the building occupy a slightly different footprint. The spaces range from 850 to 1,550 square feet, Van Noppen said.
“It’s a little bit of a strip mall in the city,” he said.
Cleverhood, which has four employees, designs bike-ready garments and outerwear including capes that protect what the bicycle-commuter carries and wears. The product line, made from U.S.-sourced materials, recently caught the attention of Forbes Magazine, which will promote it in its holiday gift guide.
The new west side location allows the company to accommodate both retail and design space, and join in a creative community of small businesses, said Emmett Conway, a production assistant. “It made sense for us,” he said.
The company planned a celebration Thursday at the new offices.

No posts to display