by Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT–This weekend could be called “Yoga Weekend” in Westport. Two new Main Street stores selling yoga apparel are opening the same day; and celebrating their new stores throughout the weekend. They are both hosting special events tonight and grand openings tomorrow with music, refreshments, special deals, and even some performances.

ALO, 44 Main St., and Beyond Yoga, 136 Main St., are opening with special events tonight (details below). Each is also hosting a grand opening on Friday beginning at 10 a.m., and the excitement will continue through the weekend, according to the managers at both stores.

Second Connecticut stores

Although the two companies are not connected, the two Westport stores also happen to be the second Connecticut stores for each of the large national companies – which, coincidentally, are both headquartered in Los Angeles.

Beyond Yoga opened its first store in Connecticut in Greenwich within the last few months, and ALO has a store in West Hartford at the Westfarms Mall.

ALO

ALO sells activewear, footwear and street wear to women and men, according to store manager Samantha Doucette. Doucette previously worked at Athleta in Westport, and has been working on Westport’s Main Street for several years, she said. The company’s name ALO stands for Air, Land and Ocean. 

“Our mission is to promote and inspire wellness,” she said. The store also has what she called “a wellness line” selling supplements and body care products. “We pride ourselves on the experience,” of shopping in their stores, she added. “It’s an individualized experience, a luxury experience.” 

Beyond Yoga

Niccole Ferraro, operations manager, says Beyond Yoga sells women’s clothing, men’s clothing, and maternity yoga apparel, as well as some toddler clothing.

“Beyond Yoga is female-founded and body inclusive,” she said. The company chose Westport to open a new store partly because of the e-commerce success of Beyond Yoga’s clothing in the Westport area, with many “brand fans,” she said.

Not only are the two stores selling yoga apparel opening on the same day, they also got approval for their signs from the Westport Architectural Review Board and Historic District Commission on the same day – April  1. Although some conditions were imposed on Beyond Yoga for its yellow storefront, the signs were approved for both stores.

ALO
44 Main St.
Westport
203-293-0661
aloyoga.com
Open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tonight’s opening event is open to everyone; ALO requests that you call them to reserve a spot.

Beyond Yoga
136 Main St.
Westport
475-501-4701
beyondyoga.com
Open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and on Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Tonight’s event is from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and all are invited.

Gretchen Webster

^{_{Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, has reported for the daily Greenwich Time and Norwalk Hour, the weekly Westport News, Fairfield Citizen and Weston Forum. She was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman for ten years. She has won numerous journalism awards over the years, and taught journalism at New York University and Southern Connecticut State University.}}