Jordan Ronning’s clothing brand, Stay Original, held the grand opening for its its first brick-and-mortar location in Oak Harbor on Friday afternoon. When it comes to menswear available on the island, Ronning is embodying the change he wants to see.

“When I was in middle school and high school, I wish there was a shop like this,” he said. “I’d be here all the time.”

Born in Coupeville and raised in Oak Harbor, Ronning is familiar with the struggle of finding a stylish, perhaps more curated selection of men’s clothing on the island. My Sister’s Closet, A Vintage Affair and Maurice’s, he points out, are just a few of the many options available to women, whereas pickings are slim for everyone else.

Why the island lacks those options remains a mystery to Ronning, as the demand certainly exists.

“I think there’s a lot of young guys — military, high schoolers — that are really attracted to stuff like this, and they don’t always want to drive two hours to Seattle to get stuff,” he said.

Stay Original Market, as the store itself is known, is located in The Loft on Fidalgo & Dock and sells items of Ronning’s design as well as a variety of vintage shirts, pants, jackets, jerseys and other sports gear, shoes and acessories he personally curated. Sifting through Goodwill bins in the Seattle area, attending thrifting events and perusing sites like Mercari, eBay and Depop are a few of the ways he sourced his stock, primarily menswear but also including some women’s clothing.

Ronning is no stranger to this “grind.” In fact, he has been curating for so long, he has formed relationships with some of the online resellers he buys from — his interest in clothes predates Stay Original. In high school, he and his friends tried to make money reselling sneakers before the idea to start a clothing brand occurred to them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Me and my buddies were just bored and we were trying to find cool ways to make money ‘cause we were in high school,” Ronning explained. “We didn’t really have anything to do. We played sports, so we couldn’t really have jobs.”

Ronning, always interested in streetwear, committed to the idea of starting a clothing brand in a way his friends did not. Bringing Stay Original to life required becoming, essentially, a self-taught business owner: watching YouTube videos and observing others on social media to learn the ways of the industry.

One thing he learned was the importance of Short Message Service, or SMS, marketing for online stores. Stay Original customers have been able to enter their phone number on the wesbite to earn discounts and other perks.

“Whenever I would drop something, I would always give the people with the phone numbers early access to my stuff,” Ronning explained. “And that’s a big way to get your sales — like, you get the majority of your sales before the site’s even live or before your product is actually, officially released.”

Opening a physical store has always been a dream of Ronning’s and the timing felt right to do so for Stay Original, which now has 11,000 followers on Instagram.

“A couple months ago, I found this spot and I really thought I could make something work with it,” he said.

Better yet, the space Stay Original calls home did not require any updating or renovation — it was an “open canvas” ready to host his brand.

While Ronning is the brand’s sole owner, he credits support from his parents, girlfriend and family friends with helping realize his dream. The endeavor has taught him plenty about the technical side of running a store, but more importantly that in business, good things take time.

“Don’t rush anything. That’s the one big thing I’ve probably learned over this,” he said. “If you just take your time, it usually ends up paying off because it gets the word out there or it can help you see things you’ve never seen before.”

For the summer, Stay Original Market is closed on Mondays, open 12-6 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday and open 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. Military and student discounts are available.

(Photo by Allyson Ballard) Jordan Ronning pulls a leather-and-leopard-print jacket from the rack of his new store, Stay Original Market.

(Photo by Allyson Ballard) Stay Original Market features racks of men’s and women’s clothing.

(Photo by Allyson Ballard) No outfit is complete without accessories, and Stay Original Market has plenty.

(Photo by Allyson Ballard) Stylized sports gear is plentiful at Stay Original Market, like this jacket modeled by a mannequin.

(Photo by Allyson Ballard) A close-up of the jackets lining the walls of Stay Original Market.

(Photo by Allyson Ballard) Ronning and his friends used to resell sneakers before he pursued his own clothing brand — he has always been interested in streetwear.