The Daily - August 12,2021 - 29

L
et's say you live in a
tiny apartment in San
Francisco's Mission
District. You and your
friend decide, over a
late Friday dinner, that you want
to head up to Lake Tahoe for a
two-night backpacking trip and
that you want to leave that very
night in order to beat the notorious
weekend traffi c. You don't
own the superlight tent, down
sleeping bags, and Jetboil you'll
need-you don't have the storage,
and spending thousands on something
you'd use just once a year
doesn't make sense anyhow-so
you need to rent it.
Good news: Specialty shop Last
Minute Gear rents all of that stuff
24/7 via online ordering and a set
of lockers accessed by a code sent
to your smartphone. You can order
it sitting in the restaurant and pick
it up on your way to the Bay Bridge
entrance ramp.
Last Minute Gear is a brick-andmortar
retail shop selling high-end
equipment like climbing ropes and
cams, bivvy sacks, and ski helmets,
but its rental program accounts
for the majority of its business.
The 24/7 rental model is tailored
to the all-hours urban lifestyle,
but it's also driven by an environmental
and social ethic. " A lot of
city dwellers can't really afford to
own and store high-end gear, but
they can afford to rent it once or
twice a year, " says James Dong,
owner of the fi ve-year-old shop. " I
don't want price to be a barrier to
anyone. "
Furthermore, he says, the
worst-case scenario is that people
purchase inexpensive, poorly made
gear that quickly fails and ends
up in a landfi ll. Therefore, Dong
rents durable, lightweight equipment
like Big Agnes Fly Creek
tents and Therm-A-Rest Neo Air
pads, and also rents lightweight
bowls and sporks for the nominal
fee of $2 so that people don't
use disposable plastic stuff. He's
even renting tubes of $15 mineral-based
sunscreens for $3. " I'd
rather someone practically use
that tube up than buy a $5 bottle
of the cheap stuff and then throw
it away later, " says Dong.
Gear rental has been a staple
of the ski and paddle industries
for decades, of course, but it's a
more recent trend in the specialty
outdoor industry. While few
businesses go so far as to rent
sunscreen and bug repellant as
Last Minute Gear does, Grassroots
Outdoor Alliance estimates
that 60% of its members now
have rental programs, and several
operate primarily as online gear
rental shops. Furthermore, last
month manufacturer Eddie Bauer
partnered with one such digitally
native gear rental company, Arrive
Outdoors, to launch its own nationwide
online gear and apparel
rental program.
EDDIE BAUER'S GEAR IS RENTING AT
ROUGHLY 10% OF RETAIL COST BASED
ON A LONG-WEEKEND RENTAL PERIOD-
SO $23 FOR THE $229 MICRO THERM
BEFORE SHIPPING COSTS.
THOUGH FOUNDED AS A RETAIL
shop in 2010, Denver's Outdoors
Geek has made its business on
rentals. " A lot of our customers
fl y into DIA, pick up gear they've
reserved online, and head off on
their big Western road trip, " says
Chelsea Marquardt, Outdoors
Geek's VP of outdoor operations.
These days, too, she says, with
younger generations being focused
more on experiences than things
and well-versed in the sharing
economy, there's a lot of demand
for rental camping gear for those
who want to dabble in outdoor
pursuits. " When people come in
to pick up their rental packages,
we'll lay everything out and show
Last Minute Gear
simplifi es and
curates the rental
process.
OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER 2021 /
29

The Daily - August 12,2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Daily - August 12,2021

The Daily - August 12,2021 - Cover1
The Daily - August 12,2021 - Cover2
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 1
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 2
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 3
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 4
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 5
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 6
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 7
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 8
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 9
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 10
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 11
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 12
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 13
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 14
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 15
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 16
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 17
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 18
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 19
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 20
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 21
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 22
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 23
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 24
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 25
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 26
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 27
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 28
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 29
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 30
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 31
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 32
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 33
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 34
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 35
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 36
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 37
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 38
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 39
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 40
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 41
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 42
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 43
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 44
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 45
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 46
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 47
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 48
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 49
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 50
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 51
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 52
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 53
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 54
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 55
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 56
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 57
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 58
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 59
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 60
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 61
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 62
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 63
The Daily - August 12,2021 - 64
The Daily - August 12,2021 - Cover3
The Daily - August 12,2021 - Cover4
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