Sue Yocom’s Black Crater Clothing in Sisters hits the apparel market on three important fronts, maximizing their exposure and profitability in the eclectic outdoor clothing industry.
“One part of the company is working for organizations like outdoor schools, search and rescue and ski patrol, making uniforms and items we can easily create out of the same fabric time and time again,” explained Yocum. “These are repeat customers who want the clothing to match with a high degree of consistency.”
The second aspect focuses on retail sales with wholesale prices.
“What we do is we’ll buy a roll of fabric from Nike or Patagonia and we’ll make jackets, base layer items or pants and sell them right out of the office here with our label attached. We also do custom production sewing for a number of valued customers for a third arm of the company. One of the weirdest applications is cloth pool table covers but we also do dog bed covers and coffee sack handbags, so those clients really vary.”
Black Crater uses a variety of high-quality materials like Power Stretch, Power Dry and 100, 200 and 300-weight Polartec fleece, different weights of wools and all-organic cotton. Inside her mini factory, tables are loaded with sewing machines linked to tight spools of colorful thread. Floors are stacked with a rainbow assortment of rolled fabrics ready for life against design templates.
“These are all the best types of materials found in the top international brands,” she said. “We find exceptional product and never use sub-standard materials.”
Yocum has been in business in Sisters since 1991 and in the clothing profession since 1978.
“Once upon a time I worked for the Parks and Recreation department in Bend and got tired of that so a friend of mine asked if I wanted to sew Nomadic Tipis. I did that for a while and realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but I liked sewing. So I went back to school in Utah for design and pattern classes and well, the rest is history.
Back in the 1980s, Yocum started her first clothing company called Tsunami in Salt Lake City, concentrating on the same premium types of outdoor wear that would be featured later on at Black Crater. Moving back to Sisters in 1990, she did home sewing production for Jagged Edge Mountain Gear out of Telluride, Colorado. When they eventually outsourced production to Mexico, Yocum decided to go out on her own again and spawned Black Crater Clothing.
Besides selling directly out of her shop at Sisters Industrial Park, her products can be found at a few shops in downtown Sisters.
“We call it destination shopping,” she joked. ”You first need to know where we are, then you need to call before you come because I might be out product testing.”
Yocum loves the endless variety of her job and the entire production process. The casual showroom is filled with racks stuffed with blank t-shirts, softshell jackets, vests and fleece pants.
“Basically whatever you can but at an outdoor store like REI you can get here at half the price. I want people walking out of here happy because things fit correctly and I like the flexibility of my hours. The economic downturn of the past few years has actually done me a great service. People are recognizing the importance of buying locally and the quality of the garments kind of sells itself.”
Yocum plans on continuing to find interesting fabrics and creating new products to satisfy an ever-fluctuating sportswear market.
“I think the biggest change over the years has been the fabrics. Vests are vests and jackets are jackets but the technology in the materials has allowed for improvements in comfort, warmth levels and weight. My most fun pieces are my hats because they’re always changing. Some are knit, some are wool and some are fleece or Lycra. My really cool ones are born from recycled suit jackets. They allow me to stay creative and fresh and new.”
Black Crater Clothing
Sisters Industrial Park at 592 Sisters Park Court
www.blackcraterclothing.com
541-549-0623
