Outdoor Retailer - July 2017 - 8

The Tribe

Larry Harrison

Outdoor Retailer 35th Anniversary

OUR GREATEST SUCCESS
For 35 years, Larry Harrison has been learning about how to do
business and how to care for our wild places from the characters
who fill the aisles of Outdoor Retailer. This is the story of the people
and passions that transformed an industry into a community.
Written By Larry Harrison

see faces.
All around me I am looking into the faces of fellow travelers on the path to outdoor adventure. What a crew. I want you
to see them, too: Throughout this 35th anniversary issue of Outdoor Retailer magazine, you
will see their portraits. Study them. Read about
who they are. There is much to learn.
Many of the personalities behind the faces
captured on these pages by gifted photographer
Andrew Kornylak at the 2017 Winter Outdoor
Retailer show have taught me to delight in life,
laugh at hardship, persevere when quitting
seems the easier path, and believe in the power
of our community. Some of these lessons took
place in the backcountry, others in business.
During my day-to-day work at Outdoor
Retailer, I find myself using the word "community" a lot; it describes our event better
than "trade show." I like the ecology definition of the word best: "a group of interdependent organisms of different species growing
or living together in a specified habitat." This
speaks to me because I strongly feel the interdependence with others, that "I couldn't
do this without them" sensation that has
marked my career in this business.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN A GREAT CLIMBER, BUT I
have roped up with Kenny Cook, Jim Donini,
Nawang Gombu, Jack Tackle, Lou Whittaker,
Skip Yowell, and many more. They shared
their rich stories and passions with me while
connected by a figure eight follow through. I
am more because of these experiences, and
they happened because of our community.
An example: I got married on Mount
Rainier after telling my wife-to-be, Carol, that

8 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ 35th Anniversary 2017

the 14,411-foot volcano was just a long walk.
Along with my business partner/minister Jim
Thomsen, we made several training jaunts together to the Sierras, but mostly we "hiked" to
Paco's Tacos for dinner and margaritas. On our
first day on the mountain, Carol stood balking
before a deep crevasse, bright white around the
lip going to black toward the bottom. She was
roped up to famed Sherpa Nawang Gombu, the
first to summit Mount Everest twice. "Jump," he
said. "No way," she said. A strong yank from the
fearsome Gombu and Carol learned that cooperation on a mountain is a tangled affair-but
she made it to the other side.
It's the same in this business. We compete
against one another, selling and marketing
our products, developing new ones, working to
make our message resonate, and we pray the
consumer approves once it hits retail.
We open the store wondering, did we do
enough to get customers to shop? Is the mix and
breadth enough? Are they just going to buy online? Is the staff trained well enough? Will the
deliveries be on time? What about the company
store down the street?
The point is we all wish to dominate our corner of the market. Yet we collaborate and remain friends with those enlisted in the battle

against us. We achieve astonishing results and
celebrate together. We build brands, nudge
others to try what brings us joy and, in the process, we create more supporters of wilderness.
Our greatest success is not about making and
selling stuff, but the immense constituency we
have created for wild lands. Whether urbanite
or suburbanite, there is a whiff of adventure
about the puffy jacket they bought that moves
them to stand for public lands.

LOVE OF OPEN SPACES DROVE COWBOYS AND
cowgirls West. We are no different. The heart
still soars under an open sky. In today's world,
this happens no matter if we are in a small urban park or out in a national monument, park,
or forest. Our aspirations, dreams, and intellect
expand to fill the horizon. The key we all share
that opens us to this expansion is the outdoors.
So please forgive me if the next time we
speak, I overuse the word community. It's what
I believe in. It's what makes us different. It's
what allows us to speak with a passionate, yet
gentle voice.
I see faces and they are united. O.R.
Larry Harrison has called the outdoor industry home for over 40 years. His sales company Earth Games helped define the role of the
independent rep thanks to a new, innovative
approach. Most recently, he created the adidas Outdoor team and served as its director
of sales, helping the company launch a brand
that spoke to young climbers and other aspiring outdoorists. In the late '70s and early '80s,
he ran the popular California Backpacking
Shows in Oakland and Anaheim, California,
but he argued in the trade press that there
needed to be a national show. He closed his
shows when Outdoor Retailer moved to Reno.
Today, he's the brand development director for
Outdoor Retailer, tasked with ensuring the
show listens to exhibitors, retailers, and reps.

The point is we all wish to dominate our
corner of the market. Yet we collaborate
and remain friends with those enlisted
in the battle against us. We achieve
astonishing results and celebrate together.
photograph by ANDREW KORNYLAK

Outdoor Retailer - July 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - July 2017