Outdoor Retailer - December 2020 - 69

#shoplife: Saying Goodbye

A Force for Good

Photo courtesy Betsy Bertram

As Townsend Bertram & Company says farewell
to the community it served for more than three
decades, it celebrates the values that made it
uplift everyone who walked through the doors
of the legendary shop. by Betsy Bertram
AS MY FAMILY RETIRES TOWNSEND
Bertram & Company after 32 years
in Carrboro, North Carolina, I reflect on not just the business, but
the vibrant web my parents, Audrey
Townsend and Scott Bertram, wove
within our community. They opened
the shop in 1988 with the mission of
outfitting people for their adventures around the block or around
the world. They wanted to create an
inspiring place for outdoor-loving
folks to share their adventures. My
mom and dad made the very building of the business an adventure,
handhewing the first clothing
racks from red cedar they gathered on their land. Wanting their
space to reflect their values, they
transformed the dirt between the
building and the parking lot into a
vibrant garden and built a deck for
employees to picnic
I never tire of hearing stories
from those early days. " When we
were upfitting the shop, we would
take in roller skates and turn up
the music and skate while we
painted and cleaned. Building
the shop itself was a fun adventure, " my mom tells me as we talk
over the final arrangements for
the retirement sale.
When I started working at the shop, I fell in love with the outdoor
industry just as my mom had. However, after my father died in 2017, I
discovered my true calling is educating children in the outdoors. As I
transitioned out of the business, my mom didn't want to continue the
shop without my dad. She pursued selling it, but her options evaporated

with the impacts of COVID-19. After many heart-to-hearts, we decided
the best thing was to retire the business because the name Townsend
Bertram & Company isn't just a store and a mailing list, it is a community that holds the essence of my family's values. Corey, who worked at
the shop with my parents, put it best in a letter to my mom, in which he
wrote: " The shop is akin to a spider web that has you, and Scott and Ella
and Betsy, at the center. "
The original adventure outfitter shops in our industry-like
TB&C- are so much more than shops. They are representations of the
families that built them, carrying in them the characters of their creators. TB&C and other specialty
shops provide motivation for the
adventures of their customers,
their communities, and employees. Corey's letter reflects that sentiment. " The shop, and the people
that came into my life because of
my time there, are still a huge force
in my life, " he wrote. The force of
the shop will live on despite its
doors closing-a force for good, a
force for environmental action, a
force for outdoor adventure, and
a force of nature in our community in the hearts of everyone who
walked through the green door. My
parents' strong business principles
will continue to illuminate the path
for others. As former employee
Millicent wrote to my mom, " You
all ran your business with such integrity, resilience, and commitment
to connecting with your employees
and customers, a true model for any
locally owned business. "
Millicent's words echo the hollow sadness that inevitably comes
with loss, but energy is neither created nor destroyed. As the physical form of people and things falls
away, the energy is released into
nature to once again become part
of nature's web. The energy and essence of TB&C, the integrity and
GLORY DAYS
connection continue on in the community,
The mayor of Carrboro,
in the customers, and in the companies.
North Carolina, cuts the
ceremonial ribbon with
And, most of all, the spirit of the shop lives
Audrey Townsend and
on in those who loved and supported TB&C
Scott Bertram on opening
over the course of three decades. O.R.
day in1988.

December 2020/ OUTDOOR RETAILER 69

Outdoor Retailer - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - December 2020