Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 46

Feature .02
gain and keep the access. We need
to create these realtionships to
keep the access that all of us want
and need.

JIMMY
FUNKHAUSER

THERE'S
SOMETHING
TO BE SAID
ABOUT THE
CULTURAL
SHIFT THAT
COMES WITH
PEOPLE WHO
DECIDED TO BE
HERE. IT GIVES
DENVER SO
MUCH ENERGY
AND VITALITY.
IT MAKES
COLORADO
A SPECIAL
PLACE.
-J I M M Y
F U N KH AUS ER

46 OUTDOOR RETAILER

Current Title: Owner
Store Name: Feral
Mountain Co.
Location: Denver, Colorado
Founded: 2016
Favorite Colorado Brands:
Mountain Standard,
Melanzana, Voormi
Favorite Colorado Beer:
De Steeg Brewing's Het Huis

WHAT MAKES THE STATE UNIQUE?
What we have seen over the past two to three
years is that this influx moving into Colorado's
Front Range has created a spillover for us. We are
starting to see these weekend warriors coming
down that we have not seen before. And now,
we have a government office [Colorado Outdoor
Recreation Industry Office] that is focused on
outdoor recreation as an industry. They are saying this is a big part of the economics of the state.
And we have it from the top-the governor's office-all the way down to the grassroots level
with local government, local land managers,
and local BLM offices. We are feeling more support for what we are doing. It went from a fun thing we do on
the weekend to a real, thriving business.

WHY COLORADO?
I wanted to live somewhere where
I could have a full life. I moved
around a lot before I landed in
Colorado. I lived a corporate
life prior to starting Feral. But I
wanted consistency between my
personal life and my professional life. I was living all these fun
adventures in my personal time
and then punching the clock on
Monday and having all the drudgery of a nine-to-five job. I just realized I wanted to bring that
Colorado experience into my professional life.

WHAT HAPPENS HERE IN COLORADO THAT HAS
HELPED YOUR BUSINESS MOVE FORWARD?
A lot of our bike network was originally pirated. Basically, one
guy was out there putting flags in and he had a confrontation
with the BLM land manager out in the middle of nowhere.
The land manager was furious: He said you can't do this. But
they finally convinced him this is something real, convinced
him that if you build these trails you can potentially create
economic benefits for the whole area. So it just took that
confrontation, that pardigm shift, to go another direction.

WHAT MAKES THE STATE UNIQUE?
For all the frustration of so many people moving in to the
state, there's something to be said about the cultural shift that
comes with people who decided to be here. It gives Denver so
much energy and vitality. It makes Colorado a special place.
Individuals in Colorado have so much pride in the state. I
have lived in places where that wasn't the case. When you
live in a state where people really care about the state, they
are more willing to, say, walk into Wilderness Exchange and
support that local business. It's not like that everywhere.

WHAT CAN OTHER RETAILERS LEARN FROM COLORADO?
All of those small retailers like us who are in the middle of nowhere need to create a connection with the local land managers. They are the people who have direct control on this
resource that we rely on. Find out how to work with them to

WHAT CAN OTHER RETAILERS LEARN FROM COLORADO?
One of my best fiends lives in Kansas City. He has built more
trail than any human I have ever met. Is Kansas City an outdoor Mecca? No. But the impact that one individual who is
on fire can have is huge, no matter where they live. O.R.

/ Winter 2018

Jimmy
Funkhauser

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018

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