Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2016 - 56

Feature .02
to Charleston, at 24, and declared to his parents that he was ready to start his own retail
business. "I loved Patagonia stuff," he says. "I
thought Charleston was ready for that type of
store. And I was ready for the challenge of being an entrepreneur. And, well, I had new baby
brother, 17 years my junior, and I wanted to see
him grow up. So I came home and started HalfMoon Outfitters."
In those days, he got very deep into whitewater paddling and surfing. (He still surfs hard on
South Carolina's beaches 60 days a year, about
the number of days that the waves are worthy.)
And by reading and "making a lot of mistakes,"
he taught himself the ins and outs of retailing. His first move as entrepreneur: contacting Patagonia. He wanted that type of quality
in his store. The manufacturer quickly agreed.
And in 1993, he opened his first store on King
Street. He further developed his aesthetic on a
trip to New York City in the mid 90s.
In a way, Molten saw the future: outdoors
as lifestyle. "I loved the skateboard and backcountry aesthetic that was taking hold across
the country. I wanted to bring it to Charleston,"
Molten says. "Of course, the purists mocked me
in those early days for my boutique-y style. But
I stuck with it. I didn't want a store that was all
about the gear."
Which brings us back to story. Beezer Molten
wanted a store that served real people-and
embraced the power of "story"-the story of
the outdoors. The story of the South.
"When people go to the outdoors, stories are
created," he says. "Legends. Myths. We've all
heard how a weekend fishing trip can turn into
a legend once you're back in civilization."

MOLTEN'S PASSION FOR SERVING OTHERS
creeps in everywhere in his business. He places a lot of importance on teaching his staff this
ethic, as well. "If you work at Half-Moon and
you don't think of your job as serving others,
then we're probably not a good fit. I've got to
serve you. You've got to serve the customer. Of
course, we fail a lot. I fail a lot," he says.
Molten says that serving others works

FIT FOR A GEAR HEAD
Molten's King Street shop has slipped
outdoors into the hip bustle of Charleston.

best when it happens "organically." And, not
surprisingly, when it helps others and your
own business. When he opened his store in
Charleston's South Windermere Shopping
Center, he installed a $25,000 climbing wall.
Then he noticed something about the wall.
It looked as if it would make for a great concert stage. Molten spoke with the manager
of WCCO 105.5, a popular Charleston radio
station and the Acoustic Rock Series at HalfMoon Outfitters was born.
Several times a year, the store becomes a
rock-music venue. "We've had Michael Franti,
Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers,
Matisyahu, G-Love. It's a great atmosphere:
kids dancing with their moms, kids hanging
off the wall. And it gives the musicians a nudge
locally. It gets people out for their shows. And
it gets people into the stores," he says.
It has not all been a party, however. Molten
admits to making a big mistake early on. After
the immediate success of his first store, he began year two by giving in to impulsivity. By the
end of year three, he had three stores, only one

"WHEN PEOPLE GO TO THE OUTDOORS, STORIES ARE
CREATED. LEGENDS. MYTHS. WE'VE ALL HEARD HOW
A WEEKEND FISHING TRIP CAN TURN INTO A LEGEND
ONCE YOU'RE BACK IN CIVILIZATION."
56 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Summer 2016

of which was successful.
"I was doing too much buying in the fashion
department," he says. "I was careless. We got
through it by battening down the hatches. We
bit the bullet and cut costs."
The same approach got Half-Moon through
the recession post-2008.
"Man, they were dark days," he says. "We'd
just opened three new stores, including our
biggest, in 2008. And then, boom, the crash.
I didn't think we'd make it. But, again, costcutting was our only option. Nothing magical
about it. We went into survival mode. And then,
we had a bit of an awakening. I said to myself,
we might not make it, but we're going to have
fun and we're going to hold on as long as we can.
We're going to be the last man standing. And
before we knew it, we'd made it through to the
other side. By the end of 2009, we were operating eight stores at less cost than we'd operated
five stores a year earlier."
In 2000, after losing his lease on his on his
original King Street store, he seized the opportunity of the real-estate crisis and bought an old
bakery down the street that came up for sale.
"We had to do a lot of work to make it into what
we wanted. But that's what I love. It's paid off
big time."
Of course, by "work," Molten isn't talking
merely about sweat equity. Wisdom has to
be part of the equation too. He's very careful
about location and aesthetic appeal of a space.
"We have a certain look, a vibe. The space has
to reflect that look. I won't go into any shopping
center. I have be able to imagine my store-the

Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2016