The store manager of the Black Dog in Newburyport, Ashley McCoy says, “This store has built itself up, each year we sell more merchandise, and now we have a basement full of back stock so our customers never have to worry about not finding the right color or design.” She continued, “The amount of loyal customers we have is amazing, they come in every day and always support us.”

Throughout the course of the last few years the Black Dog has grown into a bigger phenomenon and business with new products and locations around the United States. The store is now located in 12 different places including Falmouth, Mashpee, Provincetown, Newburyport, Rockport and Chatham in Massachusetts. Outside of Massachusetts they have stores in Newport, RI, Portland, ME, Mystic, CT, Annapolis, MD, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket ,Charlotte, SC and Savannah, GA.

In 1971, Robert Douglas opened his Tavern in the Vineyard. There wasn’t an empty seat in the house, and the Black Dog Tavern was born. The distinctive symbol of the tavern’s ‘Black Dog’ caught many people’s attention and became as popular as the menu, and is now seen on T-shirts, apparel, and many other items which has created the Black dog store world wide.

“Out of one sailing Captain’s love for the sea, his island home, and of course, his dog, The Black Dog brand was born,” Captain Robert Douglas says.

The nearest Black Dog store to us is on State Street in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The store opened here in 2009 and ever since has been a popular attraction to many people whether they be tourists

McCoy believes that most of the new products in the store have been a successful sale but others are not as profitable.

Ali Sommers who is assistant manager in Newburyport also agrees with Mccoy’s opinion on the latest created items. “The shipments we got last week were honestly a joke to me,” Sommers explains. “For example the hot cups with the signature Black Dog design are very poorly made. The connected paper is visible when you look at the cup and it is made of plastic. I don’t know who would buy this at a price of $ 25.”

Grace MacDonald, who is a sales associate at the Black Dog, described one of the more successful items that is frequently purchased.

“The fairly new fisherman sweatshirts are a hit this year! Last weekend, on Black Friday, we sold 20 of them in a matter of three hours.”

MacDonald furtherly explains the reasoning why everybody wants to buy them as “they are more comfortable than your average sweatshirt . You can wash them as much as you want and they will always stay durable and have that new sweatshirt look and feeling.”

Ashley McCoy says that the Black Dog will be continuing to come out with new sweatshirt styles as the year goes on since they are getting very popular.