Wintergreen Northern Wear

When you put on an anorak jacket from Wintergreen Northern Wear, you are as equipped for cold weather as polar explorers. That’s because the Ely, Minnesota, company’s line of outdoor clothing was developed specifically for the adventurers who made the first unsupported, 1,000-mile trek from northern Canada to the North Pole in 1986.

“The company traces its roots back to our founder, Sue Hendrickson, who developed the clothing and sled gear that enabled Will Steger and Sue’s husband, Paul Schurke, and the six-person, 46-sled dog team to make that 55-day trip to the pole,” says Jackson Harren, Wintergreen owner. The expedition was featured on the cover of the 1986 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Will and Paul were co-founders of Wilderness Inquiry, the St. Paul-based organization devoted to connecting people of all ages, backgrounds, identities, and abilities with the outdoors. Sue had worked there in 1979, leading canoe trips to the Boundary Waters.

In 1989, Sue founded Wintergreen and hired employees to help her create clothing for Paul’s Soviet-American Bering Bridge Expedition across Siberia to Alaska, which was to be completed by ski and dog team. That project resulted in a visit to Minnesota by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Sue sold the business in 2009, but the new owners went out of business in 2013. As reported on the company’s website, “Heartbroken to see the business collapse, Sue repurchased much of the equipment at auction and re-started the business from scratch.” Reborn, the Wintergreen line grew and was purchased in 2021 by Jackson and his brother Gabriel Harren, and their wives, Solveig and Katie, who are majority owners and continue the company tradition of woman-ownership.

Wintergreen’s product line is unique. At its beginnings, Sue spent time with the Iqaluit peoples of the Northwest Territories, developing an appreciation for the garments and gear they had developed to live in their frigid climate. By combining the traditional Inuit clothing with styles from Scandinavia and using breathable, lightweight nylon, she created the unique line of outdoor wear that Wintergreen is best known for.

Ask Jackson, and he’ll tell you the shell and fleece layered anorak system is Wintergreen’s trademark garment. It’s available in a variety of colors, full or partial zip, the nylon shell version for wind protection, and the expedition fleece line for warmth. Both can be worn alone or layered together. A combo model merges both into a single jacket.

 “You can spot a Wintergreen anorak from a mile away,” he says. “It’s the accent trim; it adds a distinctive Scandinavian flair to our clothing.” The company also uses Merino wool from New Zealand, a fabric that is breathable and doesn’t smell or harbor bacteria. Wintergreen has just introduced a new line of breathable crewnecks made of that material.

And there’s a lot more on the company’s shelves and racks. The well-stocked inventory includes hoodies, fleece jackets, tops, pants, shorts, mittens, caps, and beanies, all in men’s, women’s, and kids’ sizes. A variety of accessories features items such as key chains and reflective dog collars.

Customers appreciate the quality approach. “Perfect weight! Comfortable, excellent workmanship,” wrote one reviewer. “My favorite winter coat ever.” Wintergreen products are designed to help hikers, bikers, skiers, skaters, snowboarders, campers, and joggers enjoy the outdoors while staying warm and dry during their trek. It is, however, the company’s manufacturing process that might be most noteworthy. “Hand-made in Minnesota, by Minnesotans,” is how Jackson describes it. It’s more than just a slogan. All of Wintergreen’s product line is handcrafted by the company’s small staff in Ely, or by individual contractors equipped with sewing machines and working out of their homes in Warroad and Duluth, Minnesota, sewing the clothing from the patterns.

“Rolls of fabric come into the warehouse in the back of the store,” Jackson explains. “We design all our patterns on a digital system. Some products may take 12-18 months to develop, test, and perfect their size. We carefully cut patterns to size on a digital table, and then bag the pieces and send the bags upstairs to the sewing pool, one at a time. The finished garments come back down to the warehouse for inspection.”

The bags—or kits—are also sent out to the company’s sewing contractors. “As we’ve grown, we’ve tapped out the labor market in our small town and have expanded to other parts of Minnesota. There are about 10 of these contractors, who own industrial sewing machines like the ones in Ely and are paid for piecework. They’re an important part of our story,” says Jackson, noting that they’ve helped keep lead times on special orders more manageable and acceptable to customers.

“We sew every garment with a focus on the details, and we inspect everything closely before putting an item on our floor or shipping it to a customer. Our clothing is designed to last a lifetime. It’s fun. We’re showing that a small company can still exist today.”

And while Wintergreen’s outdoor wear has been an essential part of those ambitious polar expeditions, they’re really inspired by Minnesota,” Jackson says.

“Our clothing has been to the ends of the earth,” he says. “But our focus is on the Boundary Waters—that vast wilderness of woods and waters on the Minnesota-Ontario border. “Our products are inspired by this part of Minnesota, our wild places.”

The Harrens also own the Northern Toboggan Company, based in Warroad, with a store in Ely, next to Wintergreen. “We grew up making wooden sleds and toboggans,” says Jackson. “There are similarities to Wintergreen—high-quality products, handmade in Minnesota.”

The Wintergreen team comprises over 20 employees, including part-time and full-time staff, as well as four key managers who oversee retail, production, sewing, and marketing.

In addition, Wintergreen maintains contact with a seasoned outdoor crew of ambassadors who specialize in skiing, exploring, climbing, mushing and racing, mountaineering, and more. The team uses durable Wintergreen outdoor wear for their adventures, testing and advising Wintergreen on its products, and helping the company succeed.

 “We are definitely growing,” says Jackson. “We have a huge concentration of Wintergreen faithful in the Iron Range, Canada, Duluth, and the Twin Cities. We’re also selling products across the United States and around the world. I check our orders every morning.

“It’s important we continue to expand our following,” he says. “It would be great if everybody in Minnesota knew the Wintergreen story. “

He says the Internet is important as the company focuses on its plans and promotes the features and benefits of its product line. “If you’re not growing and re-investing and improving, you’re doing the opposite.”

But there’s no change in the basic philosophy of this family-owned small-town business. “The key,” says Jackson, “is carrying the flag forward without losing sight of what got us here. We need to keep our eye on the ball and our values. Our business is about people. In carrying on our tradition, we uphold the high standard of our products, confidence, and sincerity. We want to continue to hand-touch what we make so that it lasts a lifetime.”

Like its namesake—the hardy Wintergreen northern shrub—this small Minnesota company strives to thrive year-round, but especially in the winter.