Sterlingwear’s Local Retail Store Has Great Sales During Holidays

Customers line up during the holiday rush to purchase some of Sterlingwear of Boston’s many handmade outerwear items. East Boston based Sterlingwear is the sole manufacturer of the official U.S. Navy Peacoat.

Since opening its doors to a new retail space adjacent to its factory on The McClellan Highway, East Boston based Sterlingwear of Boston, the sole manufacturer of the official U.S. Navy Peacoat has had nonstop business.

“The new retail space is doing very well,” said Jack Foster, Director of Marketing and Sales for Sterlingwear of Boston. “The Christmas and Holiday season was very busy and we are happy with the return.”

Since opening the retail store where customers can peruse the company’s many styles of Peacoats and other outerwear, Sterlingwear has been busy promoting the new space.

“It is a destination store,” said Foster. “So we aired some ads on T.V. and printed out some flyers for the hotel across the street which attracted a lot of customers.”

Foster said many people visiting Boston and staying at the nearby hotel made their way over for some stress free Christmas shopping.

“One of the biggest responses was that all our products are made in America and people made it a point to tell us that,” said Foster. “I think that and the fact the authentic quality of our products that you just can’t find in department stores also helped.”

Obviously the official U.S. Navy Peacoat was the top sale item this Holiday season but Foster said two other coats also topped the list.

The Susan-a military inspired coat but with more of a feminine cut was popular as well as the Anya—another women’s coat that is a more fashionable choice that is fur trimmed.

“We are pleasantly surprised by all the foot traffic we received this season,” said Foster. “The amount of traffic we got and the effort customers made to get to us was reassuring in a lot of ways.”

In November, Sterlingwear celebrated the grand opening of its third retail store located at its manufacturing and corporate headquarters in Eastie at 175 McClellan Hwy.

In honor of its American-made heritage, Sterlingwear of Boston threw an all-American party.  Festivities included free grilled hot dogs and burgers, an apple pie contest, a blueberry pie-eating contest, and a Halloween costume contest for children.  Romeo from Kiss 108 entertained live with music, games and giving away prizes and all purchases made in the store received a thirty-percent discount.

Sterlingwear of Boston, in its third generation of leadership, is an all-American story of success.

The company started as Viking Clothing in 1965 by Lorenzo Fredella and his two sons, Frank and Anthony.  At that time, the primary work consisted of cut and sew operations for other clothing manufacturers and retailers.

In 1968 it was contacted by the U.S. Government to produce Peacoats for the U.S. Navy.  The contract to produce Peacoats for the U.S. Navy propelled the company into a new and successful direction.

For over 45 years, Sterlingwear of Boston has produced the peacoat for the U.S. Navy, as well as other outerwear and dress uniforms for all branches of the armed forces.  The decision to start offering a commercial line of outerwear was formulated in 2000 and has since expanded to include e-commerce, wholesale, and retail stores.

Sterlingwear of Boston’s two other retail stores are located in the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH and the South Shore Plaza in Braintree.

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