by Annie Sciacca

WALNUT CREEK — One storefront in Walnut Creek has made a jump from designer jeans to fur-lined leggings.

That’s right. In the former Walnut Creek home of  True Religion — a purveyor of expensive jeans that closed nearly 30 stores upon filing for bankruptcy earlier this year — is a store dedicated almost entirely to selling leggings.

Nestled next to a Starbucks in the upscale Broadway Plaza shopping center, the store, called Just Cozy, offers a variety of leggings — many of them advertised as “fur-lined.”

According to the company’s website and LinkedIn pages, it was started in Canada and is in its fourth year of business. It says it has been in 51 locations in Canada in 2016 and is “quickly expanding” in the United States this year.

Signs inside the store priced the leggings — which come in a variety of patterns and colors — at $25 per pair, although buying multiple pairs could get shoppers a discount, such as buying six pairs for $100.

It is a very niche business, but leggings have become a popular clothing item in recent years. Indeed, the “athleisure” trend — marked by people buying comfortable athletic apparel that they may not necessarily be exercising in — took the retail world by storm.  Activewear apparel sales in the United States totaled $45.9 billion in 2016, up 11 percent from 2015, according to the NPD Group.

Original article:  http://www.mercurynews.com/author/annie-sciacca/