Alayna Peddie and Winston Heuga wanted a name that captured the spirit of their business when they decided to open a new retail store in the heart of downtown Steamboat Springs.

“We were throwing around names like ‘Breaking Trail Apparel’, and all these basic mountain names.

Then we were like, ‘What about Sundog?’, said Heuga who thought the natural phenomena captured the concept the store wanted. “It is a cool phenomenon, it’s beautiful, it’s rare and it’s unique. Those adjectives speak to what we are trying to create here.”

The new owners became friends while attending the University of Colorado a decade ago. Following college Peddie moved to Steamboat Springs, and Heuga, who grew up in Vail, hit the road performing with the band, Tenth Mountain Division where he played mandolin.

When the band took a break recently, and he returned to the mountains to join Peddie, and the two business partners opened Sundog Steamboat, located at 635 Lincoln Ave. Suite M, on June 6.

“We joke it is like a retail bodega because we have a little bit of everything, but it was important for us to fill some of the niches in town,” Peddie said.

Inside Sundog Steamboat, a store specializing in ski town vintage and retro-eclectic goods, customers will find Colorado based arts and products. Venders include Emma Friedland’s locally inspired prints, Lauren Larkin’s wood-burned art and hand-painted denim jackets, gemstone jewelry from Darc Moon and contributions from art collaborator Shayna Weil. 

Muralist Alex Tomassian created the art customers view on the walls at Sundog Steamboat and their embroidered apparel from It Stoned Me, stickers from Think Outside Co, jewelry made from skis and snowboards by Apres Ski Jewelry and stoneware from Artsy Em Designs.

Sundog Steamboat also features a hat station where customers can create their own unique lid from a selection of ball caps and patches.

“You can choose from an array of blank hats, and an array of the patches and we’ll heat press them onto the hat,” Heuga said.  “We’re also working on getting the laser engraver so (businesses) can send us their logo, or if you have a … party in town and everybody wanted to get a matching hat that said something goofy or funny you could email that to us and we’ll upload it to our laser engraver, and can make you your own one-of-a-kind patch, and then we can heat press that onto a hat.”

Customers will also find high quality drybags my Meraki, sewn goods from Down River Equipment, Turkish quick drying towels from Kalkedon, products from Lost Range CBD along with unique t-shirts featuring pocket art by Colorado artists along with a selection of unique sweatshirts and hoodies that are not the typical fare tourist-town fare from Intrigue Ink.

Heuga said the store will also offer a small selection of musical gear hoping to fill a niche for local musicians looking to find strings from D’Addario, drumsticks from ProMark and other items.

The new store also offers Do Good Swimwear with products made from recycled water bottles, and sales supporting national parks and games for Petra Mons and other items perfect for a camping trip.

“We were working with a friend of ours who owns a bunch of T-shirt shops throughout the state, and it was very clear to us that if we were going into retail, we didn’t want to just do the cookie cutter mold,” Peddie said.

“We wanted to break the retail mold a bit in a ski town and really tap into our network of creators and artists to bring in some of the more unique apparel that we would buy, both as a local or as a tourist. We wanted stuff that I’d be excited to give you know my family back in Florida, and wear as someone who lives here,” added Peddie.

Heuga, the son of skiing legend Jimmie Heuga, has strong ties to the Steamboat Springs community and Billy “Winston” Kidd, who he is named after. Kidd and Jimmie (Heuga) became the first American men to win Olympic medals in Alpine skiing in 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria where Kidd earned the silver, and Jimmie Heuga’s won bronze in the slalom.

After multiple sclerosis ended Jimmy Heuga’s athletic career following his medal-winning performance he went on to become an advocate of exercise and activity to combat the disease. Kidd and Jimmie Huega remained a life-long friends.

“I’ve been playing in a band for 10 or 11 years touring the country, and we just decided to take a break,” Heuga said. “The band was the only thing holding me to Denver, so having grown up in Vail, I really wanted to get back to the mountains. I didn’t want to go back to my hometown. I wanted to come up here and start something fresh, and create something unique.”

Peddie was born in Florida and came to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado Boulder. That’s where she met Heuga and the two became close friends. She is married to longtime local, Charlie Peddie.

“I’m a Florida gal that made her way the mountains at CU Boulder, and then fell in love with the mountains,” Peddie said. “I got an internship here in Steamboat, didn’t plan to stay beyond the two years, but I found myself a home — that was nine years ago.”

The store, which is located upstairs in Old Town Square, is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Peddie said the artist at the store are likely to rotate from time-to-time and that Sundog Steamboat is always open to featuring local artists.

“I would like to note that if you’re a local artist looking to get your product into a brick and mortar, please stop by ask for Alayna or Winston,” Peddie said.