Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020 - 45

TASKED WITH GROWING A SPECIALTY RETAILER THAT
HAD BEEN SUCCESSFUL FOR 30 YEARS, WYKLE AND
SCOTT KNEW THEY NEEDED CAPITAL.
Camping World's stock. According to the RV
Industry Association, wholesale RV shipments in 2018 were down more than 23%. By
September 2019, Camping World's stock had
plummeted 40%. In response the company
began moving away from the specialty outdoor
retail space to better focus on selling RVs. For
Camping World's specialty retailers that didn't
sell RVs, like Rock/Creek, that shift was scary.
"Some Uncle Dan's had already been systematically closed," says Wykle. "My fear was if
I didn't do something, that was coming for us."
In the spring of 2019, Wykle met with
Lemonis and Camping World officials. They
gave him three options: Buy back Rock/Creek,
find a buyer, or risk losing Rock/Creek altogether. In a matter of weeks, Wykle managed to do
the impossible. He not only found a buyer in Ted
Herget, founder of Arkansas-based Gearhead
Outfitters, he also returned Rock/Creek to its
privately held roots and kept the business literally within the Rock/Creek family. Herget is
the cousin of Rock/Creek's race director Ginny
Kelly, and you better believe Wykle-and
Herget-took that as a sign.
"Everything happens for a reason," says
Herget of the acquisition. "Trust the process
and see where life takes you. I'm not somebody
who believes in luck. What happens is supposed
to happen. You gotta just ride it out."
Today, Gearhead Outfitters includes 23
stores with a footprint from Wisconsin to
Louisiana over to Tennessee. The purchase included all seven of Rock/Creek's locations as
well as six Uncle Dan's stores. Combined, these
three brands have over 100 years of experience
in outdoor retail, which bodes well for Herget.
Operating a business in seven different states
and overseeing 23 different stores, all while
respecting three brands' identities, presents a
whole suite of challenges Herget and his team
are only just beginning to tackle.
"They're at the hard part right now," says
Rock/Creek founder and former co-owner
Dawson Wheeler. "They're doing something
that's new and they're doing it in a tough time."
The sale was officially announced in August
2019, so it's still too early to gauge if this new
union will thrive in today's market. At first

glance, the merge seems like a perfect match.
Both Rock/Creek and Gearhead have a decades-long history of hosting races, partnering with nonprofits, and raising funds for their
immediate communities. Wykle and Herget
themselves both practice what they preach-
Wykle, as a trail runner and climber, and
Herget, as a triathlete-and they even cite the

same book, The Celestine Prophecy, as influential in their personal and professional lives.
But the two men and their beloved brands
face an uphill battle. It's no secret that online behemoths like Amazon and direct-to-consumer brands are forcing independent retailers to
adapt in order to stay relevant. Fortunately for
Herget, if any brand has mastered the art of adaptation, it's Rock/Creek.

WHERE IT BEGAN

Before there was Rock/Creek there was
Canoeist Headquarters, a small paddlesports
store located on the outskirts of Chattanooga

LOCAL LIVING
Rock/Creek employees
Chad Wamack and Sarah
Horne get ready to put in
on Chattanooga's North
Chickamauga Creek (top).
Employees Mark McKnight
and Jeff Bartlett hike at
Signal Point above the
Tennessee River.
.

Winter 2020

/ OUTDOOR RETAILER 45

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020

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