page_title: Patagonia, Inc.
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Patagonia, Inc. / History
caption_attribution_description: The south end of the Natural Capital Center, in Portland, Oregon, on NW Irving Street. This end of the 1895 building had a Patagonia clothing store on its ground floor from 2001 to 2017, but the store closed around the end of March 2017 and moved a few blocks south, to a new location on West Burnside Street.
context_page_description: Patagonia, Inc. is an American clothing company that markets and sells outdoor clothing. The company was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, and is based in Ventura, California.
context_section_description: Yvon Chouinard, an accomplished rock climber, began selling hand forged mountain climbing gear in 1957 through his company Chouinard Equipment. He worked alone selling his gear until 1965 when he partnered with Tom Frost in order to improve his products and address the growing supply and demand issue he faced.
  In 1970, Chouinard obtained rugby shirts from Scotland that he wore while climbing because the collar kept the climbing sling from hurting his neck.
  Great Pacific Iron Works, Patagonia's first store, opened in 1973 in the former Hobson meat-packing plant at Santa Clara St, in Ventura, near Chouinard's blacksmith shop. In 1981, Patagonia and Chouinard Equipment were incorporated within Great Pacific Iron Works. In 1984, Chouinard changed the name of Great Pacific Iron Works to Lost Arrow Corporation.
  Patagonia has expanded its product line to include apparel targeted towards other sports, such as surfing. In addition to clothing, they offer other products such as backpacks, sleeping bags, and camping food.
  Starting in April 2017, certain Patagonia merchandise that is in good condition can be returned for new merchandise credits. The used merchandise gets cleaned and repaired and sold on their "Worn Wear" website.
caption: A Patagonia store in Portland, Oregon, was located in a renovated 1895-built former warehouse until moving to a new location in 2017.
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