Cool it Now

Cult favorite Yeti cools off North Austin with first-ever pop-up shop

Yeti will open its second Austin shop in November.

Photo by Nicole Raney

Austin's own Yeti is opening its first-ever pop-up store right here in the Capital City, the company confirmed August 28.

Yeti, the maker of some pretty durable coolers, tumblers, camping gear, and more, will open up shop in the Domain Northside in early November, just in time for the holidays. The store will have a limited lease at 3211 Palm Way, Ste. 140, near the Apple store.

The 2,600-square-foot location will offer familiar Yeti products, including the aforementioned coolers, bags, pet products (like dog bowls and beds), and more, the company says.

This is the cult brand's second Austin location. Yeti's flagship store opened on South Congress Avenue and Barton Springs Road in 2017, featuring a bar, concert venue, museum, and theater.

"Retail remains a key aspect of the brand’s overall strategy, and Yeti continues to explore various formats as they expand their brick-and-mortar footprint," said a company rep via email.

When it was founded in 2005, Yeti was only available online. Brothers Ryan and Roy Seiders, who needed something sturdy to stand on when fishing, started designing the coolers to not only withstand the weight of humans, but be grizzly bear proof — or so the company has touted.

Thanks in part to an innovative marketing campaign, Yeti has transformed from an outdoor company into a lifestyle brand with a dedicated fanbase who snap up everything from Yeti T-shirts, hats, and blankets to stickers and bottle openers. And, beginning this fall, North Austinites can snap those products up at the company's new pop-up shop.

openings shopping

Trucking news

Driverless truck company postpones Texas route, citing construction

Photo courtesy of Aurora

Driverless semis traveling from Dallas to Houston were expected to launch this year.

Autonomous truck company Aurora Innovation says it won't start hauling freight without humans on board until April of 2025, a delay from previous statements that commercial service would begin by the end of 2024.

The Pittsburgh company said the April launch of driverless semis traveling from Dallas to Houston — originally announced last year — will be “modestly later” than the company had intended. The company also previously announced a partnership with Uber.

The company told investors on its third-quarter earnings conference call that it has made progress toward ensuring its trucks will operate safely.

Remaining obstacles are “primarily in the areas of some elements of surface street driving and some elements of construction that we see on the freeway,” CEO Chris Urmson said. “We want to have extremely high confidence in the system as we as we go forward.”

The company will start with about 10 autonomous tractor-trailers and move to “tens” of trucks by the end of next year, Urmson said.

“This shift to our timeline will have a negligible financial impact and does not affect our scaling efforts on our path to self-funding," Urmson said.

Aurora also intends to haul freight without human drivers from Fort Worth to Phoenix later in 2025, Urmson said.

Aurora in August added nearly $500 million to its balance sheet with a capital raise in August, which the company expects to fund the initial phases of its strategy to scale up driverless trucking.

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