For the first time ever, jerky brand Jack Link’s is bringing its family-recipe flavors and adventurous attitude to life in an immersive retail store in Minneapolis: Jack Link’s Wild Side. Located in the renovated Target Center, the brick-and-mortar monument to jerky is the perfect place to Feed Your Wild Side, shop for Jack Link’s apparel and try new products.

“Over the past 30 years, Jack Link’s has built an incredible base of highly passionate fans, and now we’re giving them an official clubhouse where they can connect with the brand in a personal way,” said Jack Link’s CEO Troy Link. “The store is part tribute to the traditions that got us to where we are today and the innovations that will take us into the future. It’s a place where fans new and old can get wrapped up in Jack Link’s untamed spirit, and experience hands-on all the wild and wonderful elements our brand has to offer.”

In addition to a wide array of meat snacks, Jack Link’s went outside the bag with brand-new retail offerings:

• Looking to beef up your wardrobe? Shop a variety of ready-to-wear graphic t-shirts, which offer a signature touch under both flannels and blazers.

• More of a foodie? Collect a set of fine china plates on which to serve the finest jerky (choose between picturesque woodland scenes and Sasquatch maulings).

• Raising a wild child? Trick out your tot in the most clutch of Northwoods-inspired garb, from camo hat-and-mitten sets to fleece Sasquatch pants.

• Inspired to find your Wild Side? Pedal off into yonder horizon on an all-terrain stone-and-timber prehistoric bicycle.

Sasquatch is an iconic part of the Jack Link’s brand. And since no Jack Link’s experience would be complete without a few sightings of the woodland man-beast, guests and passersby are invited to venture around the bend from the Wild Side store into a sun-dappled woodland clearing. There, they will be greeted by an eerily lifelike, 7-foot, chainsaw-carved likeness of the mythical creature and can snap a #sasquatchselfie to share their discovery with friends and family. It’s a new profile picture just waiting to happen.

The opening of Jack Link’s Wild Side is also the debut of the brand’s first foray into haute couture. Store visitors will be hard-pressed to miss the Sasschál, a lavish outerwear statement piece crafted in partnership with the design duo of Idle Child.

This stunning, one-of-a-kind accoutrement was inspired by Sasquatch’s luxurious fur, making the garment a cozy and fashionable winter accessory that both enhances and confuses the body shape. Additional features include a man-beast-inspired hood, faux pant legs and vintage fang buttons. The Sasschál allows you to clothe your inner untamed spirit with magnificent outward-facing splendor. It must be worn to be believed and is on display now at Wild Side with a $5,000 price tag.

Coming in 2018, meat aficionados can sample fresh-from-the-smoker jerky in experimental new flavors, hand-carried from a state-of-the-art innovation center in Jack Link’s new Minneapolis office space.

“Having the Wild Side store so close to our innovation center means we can immediately give people a taste of new products and get feedback on the spot,” says TD Dixon, chief marketing officer at Jack Link’s. “Our fans are a big part of our success and their feedback is critical. This is the most direct way for us to react to trending tastes and new product forms in real time and keep Jack Link’s bringing innovation to the category quicker than anyone else.”

Jack Link’s Wild Side store was created in partnership with Delaney Consulting, Black (retail design); Cuningham Group (architecture); Hot Dish (in-store design); and Mortenson (construction). To learn more about the store, visit www.jacklinkswildside.com.

Source: Jack Link’s