North goes Southwest

Austin shopping center welcomes the city's first North Face, plus 2 other stores

The North Face now has one store in Texas. Rails and [solidcore] are also joining the Domain NORTHSIDE shopping center.

Photo courtesy of Domain NORTHSIDE

We're certainly not seeing many jackets around Austin right now, but the residents of this outdoorsy city loves a hiking trip. And although its logo is classically seen on cold weather gear, the North Face is turning Southwest to Austin.

A new North Face store at Domain NORTHSIDE (appropriately) is open now. As the name would imply, this hiking apparel is inescapable in Northern states, with high-quality, no-nonsense windbreakers and vests making up the bulk of the products visible on the street — or more accurately, the trail. (NOTE: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized it as the first North Face store in Texas, based on incorrect information in a press release. It is the first in Austin.)

This company, with its brisk-but-temperate San Francisco roots, isn't just for staying warm. The products range from quilted jackets to tank tops, shorts, and even a range of surprisingly sleek performance footwear. Austinites may especially like the climbing line. And we can travel, you know. Cold places do exist.

News of the 4,500-square-foot store also included announcements about Solidcore (stylized [solidcore]) coming this September, and Rails in November.

Solidcore offers group classes on reformer machines, which people may be familiar with after taking some Pilates classes. The sliding bench provides low impact body-weight resistance for building muscle and working on control.

Rails breaks with the fitness theme, offering laid-back semi-casual apparel for men and women. Styles run the gamut from minimalist knits to unique matching sets, but all take a mostly monochrome hue and a lot of restraint in the details.

“These three great brands meet and fulfill Austin’s market needs, and we’re excited to add these locations to our lineup at Domain NORTHSIDE,” said Northwood Retail president Ward Kampf in a release.

“The North Face is iconic with its tried-and-true tech performance outwear and gear," he continued. "[solidcore] is redefining fitness, adding to our daily 18-hour offerings that activate the property day-to-night, while Rails further bolsters the elevated contemporary mix at NORTHSIDE with its polished casual fashion.”

Domain NORTHSIDE is located across from The Domain, but it is a separate entity with more than 120 mixed-use tenants. See all the stores at domainnorthside.com.

hiking climbing sports health fitness shopping

Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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