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Ocean82 
Group: Members
Posts: 38
Joined: Dec. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 12:40 pm |
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It's no wonder stores are losing business to online retailers. They never stock anything! At least near me. All my outfitters are glorified clothing stores. For decent gear you might as well shop Amazon or CampMor. I just went to 3 local mom and pops outfitters and then Dick's Sporting Goods, and a BassPro and not one stocked Smartwool expedition heavy socks or any type of non-plastic collapsible/folding spork. I expected the big box stores to stock Coleman products and other garbage, but to find it in the small business store is a joke. The gear selection is just awful. Sure, they offer to special order it, but I can "special order" it myself online. I want to support small business, but they need to stock proper items and stop focusing on clothing. Hell, once you know your size, you can still order clothing online too! Maybe it has to do with my location (VA Beach). Hiking and backpacking isn't too big locally, but we are only 3 hours from the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains.
Is it the same for you?
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"We don't stop hiking because we grow old,
we grow old because we stop hiking."
-- Finis Mitchell,
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ol-zeke
me in the Tetons
Group: Members
Posts: 10768
Joined: Sep. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 12:45 pm |
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I am fortunate enough to live near 5 REIs, and a Mom & Pop smaller store that carries some things REI doesn't. I mentioned to the owners that some of the items seem like specialty items, but they said they wanted a store where people could put their hands on the gear. This little store hasn't been open long, so i will see if there is the demand. They carry clothes, but also climbing gear and better sleeping bags etc...
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Everything I know, I learned by doing it wrong at least twice.
The easiest way to ruin a Friday is to realize it is only Tuesday.
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| Post Number: 3
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WalksWithBlackflies
Resident Eco-Freak Bootlicker
Group: Members
Posts: 8742
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 12:47 pm |
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I've only had such issues near the end-of-season, and by end-of-season, I mean mid-season. Better get those expedition-weight socks by the end of December, 'cos by February they've only got spring wear.
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When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. - Lao Tzu
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| Post Number: 4
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bad knees
Group: Members
Posts: 2381
Joined: May 2007
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 12:49 pm |
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Not for me here in Maine. We have ems, which are why too expensive. We have the kittery trading post which is very nice but doesn't have everything, oc course. I order on line too. Now when I lived s.florida, well we had nothing.
The first rule of retail is ~ out of stocks will kill ya !
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There's a story behind that!
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| Post Number: 5
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Roger
Group: Members
Posts: 1891
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 1:04 pm |
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I have Bill Jackson’s in St. Petersburg which has a good selection of backpacking, paddling, hunting and skiing equipment. In the winter they have skiing equipment and clothing including a ramp to tryout your skies. There are also three other locally owned paddling shops that have a good selection of kayaks, canoes and paddle boards. As I frequently go to Atlanta I have an REI available if I plan ahead. When possible I try to buy local.
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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
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| Post Number: 6
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Lamebeaver
trail? I don't need no stinkin trail!
Group: Members
Posts: 16191
Joined: Aug. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 1:04 pm |
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You're a Mac user, aren't you?
Bass Pro and Dicks are hardly "small businesses"
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| Post Number: 7
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| Post Number: 8
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eggs
That's sofa King assume
Group: Members
Posts: 4228
Joined: Nov. 2007
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 1:15 pm |
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I have this problem with bicycle stores. Go in for a cassette or chain or other routine maintenance items and they have to order them. They offer but then I'd just have to drive back and pick it up. I might as well just order it myself and have it delivered to me.
As for mom and pop camping gear stores their are none very close to me. We have REI and EMS which I don't classify as mom and pop.
So I order most things online. Their are many mom and pop type online retailers that have a nitch product that I'll use often. McHale, Tarptent, RBH Design and so on to name a few.
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Eggs
Home of the egg
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| Post Number: 9
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OldGuyWalkin
Group: Members
Posts: 158
Joined: Nov. 2012
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 1:19 pm |
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I can support mom 'n' pops if I want to fish. But other outdoors stuff it Walmart for stuff that I can do cheap. 2 REI's if I want to spend more.
Our Bass Pro\Outdoor World is pathetic for hiking or backpacking, decent for car-camping, but Walmart has a better selection.
Cabella's is a little better.
Dick's closed down.
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| Post Number: 10
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TravisNWood
W Y O M I N G
Group: Members
Posts: 14864
Joined: Apr. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 1:21 pm |
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A friend of mine made a very good living with a small-town store. And he kept it well-stocked. But is was in a resort town located fairly central to a mountain range. The mountains and the town got a lot of seasonal traffic.
He said that small-town stores had become like convenience stores. If you wanted something basic right now, he had it. But you had to expect a higher price for the "convenience."
He stocked things you might not buy. But if you simply never bought those things, he quit selling them. He was a convenience store — sporting goods, hardware, etc. But in the long run, he could only stock what he had hopes of selling.
Maybe in your case, clothing is simply the safest investment.
Nearest REI to me is over 300 miles away. There is a Cabela's a little less than 100 miles, but it's far more oriented toward hunting. I shop the Internet at REI.
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Location — Wyoming
Webpages — Cloud Peak Wilderness Maps — Rocky Mountain Wildlife
Photos — Bighorn Mountains — Wyoming Steppes
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| Post Number: 11
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RebeccaD
Double Arch, Arches N.P.
Group: Members
Posts: 9848
Joined: Jul. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 1:50 pm |
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I'm thinking Travis is right. If they don't focus on clothes, the market (for real BP gear) is just too small.
Heck, even REI does that. Tons of clothes you'd never wear on the trail, especially for women. Of course, they are big, so can also stock sporks and sleeping bags.
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Bits of writerly thoughts and random short fiction found at
The Ninja Librarian Blog
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GoBlueHiker
Obsessive Island Hopper...
Group: Members
Posts: 14069
Joined: Jul. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 1:54 pm |
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Makes me feel pretty lucky here, at least in that regard. More gear stores than I can throw a stick at, both chain (REI, Dick's, etc) and local (Neptune Mountaineering, climbing shops, army surplus, kayaking stores, etc). There's very little outdoor gear (minus very-specialty items like packrafts) I can't personally find within one to two stops in this town.
Living here has it's drawbacks for sure, but good gear availability isn't one of them.
- Mike
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Wealth needs more. Happiness needs less. Simplify.
www.RainForestTreks.com
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| Post Number: 13
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llamapacker
Group: Members
Posts: 657
Joined: Feb. 2010
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 2:25 pm |
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It is commendable, maybe a little expensive and sometimes frustrating to support small local businesses. Some items like non-plastic collapsible/folding sporks probably don't fly off the shelves, and I suspect they don't generate a lot of profit either. It's amazing they exist at all.
"Is it the same for me?" you ask. Yes, I know of three places to buy llamapacking gear. Two of those may be going out of business soon if they can't find new owners. Fortunately I live within 30 miles of the third.
The internet allows me to support cottage industries wherever they are. As much as I would prefer to inspect all items before I buy, I'm grateful that some things I want (quilt, Bearikade, panniers...) are available anywhere.
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| Post Number: 14
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hikerjer
Group: Members
Posts: 9126
Joined: Apr. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 2:54 pm |
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I have a friend who runs a very good local mountain shop which has pretty much whatever you'd need. Over the years, I noticed that soft goods, that is primarily clothing, was taking over the store. Now it's about 3/4s soft goods and 1/4 gear. I asked him about it and he simply said, soft goods is where the money is. However, he still carries plenty of backpacking and hiking gear.
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"Too often I have met men who speak only of how many miles they've traveled and not of what they've seen." - Louis L'Amour
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| Post Number: 16
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ataylor
Group: Members
Posts: 108
Joined: Dec. 2008
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 3:00 pm |
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hikerjer has it right. The profit margin on soft goods (clothes) is much higher than on the rest of the gear sold in outdoor stores.
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| Post Number: 17
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Lamebeaver
trail? I don't need no stinkin trail!
Group: Members
Posts: 16191
Joined: Aug. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 4:46 pm |
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(Ben2World @ Jan. 07 2013, 1:04 pm)
QUOTE
(Lamebeaver @ Jan. 07 2013, 10:04 am)
QUOTE You're a Mac user, aren't you?
Bass Pro and Dicks are hardly "small businesses" LB: To be fair, OP wrote: " I just went to 3 local mom and pops outfitters and then Dick's Sporting Goods, and a BassPro". (The underline is mine for emphasis). 
Sorry, It just seemed like deja vu all over again.
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| Post Number: 22
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big_load
Group: Members
Posts: 21810
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 4:55 pm |
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(GoBlueHiker @ Jan. 07 2013, 4:54 pm)
QUOTE
(MsDoolittle @ Jan. 07 2013, 12:55 pm)
QUOTE
(GoBlueHiker @ Jan. 07 2013, 11:54 am)
QUOTE Living here has it's drawbacks for sure, but good gear availability isn't one of them.
- Mike "Drawbacks"? I haven't experienced any drawbacks, except that of living too far away from family. Sorry I didn't clarify. I was referring specifically to living in Boulder itself. I'm sure you could come up with one or two. 
She's pretty far from the nearest In-n-Out Burger. Not as far as I am, though. 
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| Post Number: 23
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TigerFan
Group: Members
Posts: 1991
Joined: May 2010
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 5:11 pm |
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I'm pretty lucky here in Ann Arbor, considering it's not exactly backpacking central. We have a Moosejaw and a good local store, Bivouac, and a couple of REI's nearby. Moosejaw and Bivouac price-match, so if they have it, I'm happy to buy it there.
I'm actually grateful for the shoppers who are willing to pay the $$ to look like backpackers... they make it possible for the gear shops to maintain their brick-and-mortar stores, imo.
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Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
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| Post Number: 25
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buzzards
Group: Members
Posts: 1740
Joined: Apr. 2005
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 6:03 pm |
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We have a bunch of small shops here on the Wasatch Front some (Kirkhams) are large stores, they just only have one unit, though the majority of their sales come from selling Springbar heavy camping tents.
Then there is "Recreation Outlet", where you will actually see a 9.95 sterno camping stove next to a JetBoil. They really cater to the Boy Scout market, and even will advertise a pack, bag, tent, and pad for 99.95. It's junk, but if it's destroyed in two years, the kid will either get quality stuff or be interested in other activities anyway.
My favorite is a true hole in the wall called OutnBack. Their assortment is also eclectic-Black Diamond next to Swedish Army surplus. But they seem to have just about anything I need, and while they have a decent clothing and footwear area, hard goods are still over half the store.
Of course, not every large metro area has the advantage of outdoor recreation literally 15 minutes from home or office, that probably has a lot to do with it.
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Now shall I walk or shall I ride?
Ride, said pleasure,
Walk, Joy replied,
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| Post Number: 26
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QCHIKER
Group: Members
Posts: 1728
Joined: Oct. 2009
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 6:57 pm |
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Ya, the clothes market is big. Around here we have a local outfitter store, Active Endeavors. Which has tons of clothes but not much gear. But what gets me is that they carry a lot of the same stuff as Dick's (about a 1/2 mi away) and Gander Mtn ( right next to them). Pretty much all North Face stuff. I mean carry some other brands in quanity other than NF.
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| Post Number: 27
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Cloudwalker
?
Group: Members
Posts: 6701
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 9:25 pm |
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I'm about 2 hours south of you in NC and the town I live in doesn't even have a stop light so it's pretty much online for me for anything outdoors unless I want to drive 45 minutes to Greenville.
(was that a run on sentence?) 
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| Post Number: 28
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Echo
Group: Members
Posts: 6362
Joined: May 2008
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 9:31 pm |
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We have the escape hatch which is mostly bikes a nd kayaks with a wall of shoes and life is good tshirts. Then we have a couple bait and tackle stores where you can also hire a river guide. The coast hardware has a few camping supplies like hatchets and enamelware or propane lanterns. And there is a walmart but anything else you drive 100 miles or get online.
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If Light is in your heart, you will find your way Home. (Rumi)
The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. Chinese proverb
http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/
http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/
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| Post Number: 29
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SW Mtn backpacker
Born to hike, forced to work ...
Group: Members
Posts: 6709
Joined: Jul. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 07 2013, 10:42 pm |
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Sometimes online but, when I travel, mostly brick stores as sizes can vary, some of the smaller retailers carry interesting doodads, etc .....
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Usually Southwest and then some.
In wildness is the preservation of the world. - Henry Thoreau
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| Post Number: 30
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Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
