Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 30

IDEAS
There are all kinds of climbers, but what they have in common is that
they like to hang out at the shop, sustain the local connection to the community, climb together, and, of course, tell stories.
I began my career in the outdoor retail industry at a time when I was
seeking balance from my teaching and research duties at a local university. In the evenings, I would wander across the street from my office to
our local outdoor retail shop and wrap up the day in the company of those
who are engaged in exploring the outdoor world, all the while putting the
newest, best-designed gear to the harshest tests. I'd found my tribe.
Without an industry-wide effort to maintain healthy margins,
things like a livable wage, health insurance, and benefits for retail employees are unreachable for small businesses.

Peak Performer
Running one of the oldest outdoor shops in the
U.S. requires an understanding of how to climb
mountains, how people tick, and most of all
how to treat employees the same way you treat
climbing partners-as friends.
Name: Guy Trombley
Company: Mountain Shop
Opened: 1937
Title: General Manager
Location: Portland, Oregon
Downlow: Taking the helm as general manager of an 80-year-old

Portland, Oregon, institution is not a job for the weak. Guy Trombley,
who joined the team at the Mountain Shop in 2011, is certainly one
tough dude. A 10-time finisher of the American Birkebeiner-a 50K
Nordic ski race that's the test piece for anyone who claims to be a
cross-country aficionado-Trombley sea kayaks and climbs mountains in the U.S. and across the globe. He's also one smart dude.
Holding a PhD in anthropology and education from the University of
Minnesota Twin Cities, he's worked as an independent researcher and
visiting scholar, including a year in Hamline University's program in
the Himalaya, co-crafting and teaching a course on ancient and modern Nepali, Tibetan, and Chinese culture. But somehow outdoor retail called to him: It merged all his passions and keeps him getting out
in the wild rather than spending too much time tied to the library.

30 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Winter 2018

Discovering a fellow mountaineer, or other outdoor enthusiast of
similar spirit, where together we have learned the art of teamwork is
something akin to discovering fire.
Passion can only really be experienced.
This winter my doctor ordered me "to take the powder day and ski
the storm." Missing too many of those experiences can lead to powderdeficit disorder, which is a really sad condition.
Doing the nearly impossible every day with almost nothing yields
great rewards.
Looking through the eyes and experiences of my lovely 10-yearold daughter as she wandered through the alpine flowers and rivulets of snowmelt in the Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal, I was taken
by the moment, and the realization of how necessary it is for all
children to have outdoor opportunities before they become too old.
What is a specialty outdoor retailer when the very brands the small
shops helped to make special are sold in discount warehouses?
I pick my work like I pick my friends.
There is no clear, simple formula for new retailers to succeed,
yet committing to learning your way to what works is a reasonable
path to a shop's evolution. Talking with others who have already
traveled this path is wise. O.R.

Gary Lawton

THOUGHT LEADERS

We need to ask questions like, is the outdoor industry too male
dominated? What role does skin color and culture play in one's outdoor recreational choices? Does the higher-income requirement for
different outdoor specialty categories like mountaineering make it
unrealistically expensive for some in lower-income brackets to have
an entry experience?

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018