The Weekly - May 5, 2020 - 7

RETAIL BOOST
Mountain Hardwear launches a
powerful retailer commission program.

Bakcountry.com
and Distillery
36's hand sanitizer
for the homeless

F R O M TO P : CO U R T E SY BAC KCO U N T RY.CO M , A N DY M A N N

STILL PRODUCING
crossed into the motocross world,"
says Schaefer. "Now we're about to
cross into the horse racing world."
Drop-off boxes are being set up
at tracks and tack shops to collect
jockey goggles.
As the effort grew, Schaefer
rallied a core group of volunteers,
including Victor Waryas, a music
industry insider, and Adam Gardner, guitarist for the band Guster
and the co-director of Reverb, an
environmental nonprofit dedicated to the greening of the music
industry. They helped organize
Friday "après-ski" concerts on
Facebook to raise funds for the
campaign. Shiffrin, who also sings
and plays the guitar, was first
to the virtual stage, opening for
Scottish singer-songwriter KT
Tunstall. The following Friday,
U.S. Ski Teamer and Olympian
Ted Ligety, with his collection
of tea kettles behind him (who
knew?), introduced Marc Roberge
of O.A.R, Ed Robertson of the
Barenaked Ladies, and Sully Erna
of Godsmack.
The concerts will help keep momentum going. "Demand is way
outpacing supply at this point,"
says Schaefer. "Overnight we had
requests for another 950 goggles."
But he sees the whirlwind month
as a testament to the good in
people. "We get five to 10 testimonials a day. The people getting
the gear are flabbergasted. They
feel so supported," he says. "[For
donors,] it alleviates some of the
helplessness they feel from staying
home and doing nothing."

An outdoor retailer collaborates with a local distiller to
brew a completely undrinkable product.
On April 21, specialty online retailer Backcountry.com
announced a partnership with Distillery 36, a small-batch
distiller based in Salt Lake City, to produce 100 gallons of
hand sanitizer to be distributed to homeless organizations.
The hand sanitizer, a hot commodity in pandemic times,
will go to both the at-risk homeless population and frontline homeless service workers in Utah.
Across the nation, boozemakers have been following
a recipe approved by the World Health Organization to
churn out hand sanitizer. "Once we realized we had the
capabilities to produce hand sanitizer, it wasn't a matter
of if we would do it, but how quickly we could do it," says
Jensen Dobbs, owner and founder of Distillery 36, known
for the cane rum it makes in a handcrafted copper still.
Backcountry, which had reached out to the distillery
to partner on the initiative, contributed to the production costs and worked on the label design for the bottles.
"Now is a pivotal time to come together as a community
and support ... individuals who have the greatest need in
this crisis," Backcountry CEO Jonathan Nielsen said in a
statement. In early April, the online retailer also launched
fundraising platforms for the production of nonmedical
face masks for the state's homeless outreach programs,
raising $65,600 to date. -H.O.

HELP A LEGEND

Lend a hand to the
irrepressible Malcolm Daly.
If you know Malcolm Daly,
you have been charmed by
his irresistible energy. If you
don't know him-he's an
accomplished mountaineer,
the founder of Great Trango
Holdings Inc., and the survivor of a climbing accident
in Alaska that took one of
his feet. Indeed, one of the
toes he lost to frostbite is
preserved and on display at
Boulder, Colorado's Neptune

Salespeople and affinity program websites
aren't the only ones earning commissions
these days. Now, outdoor retailers are getting them as well, thanks to a new program
launched by Mountain Hardwear.
The program enables retailers to receive
a 40% commission-similar to a standard
brick-and-mortar margin-on mountainhardwear.com transactions they generate
leads for. It's designed to help affected retailers through June 30 or as long as the retailer
is closed, as well as offer doorstep delivery to
consumers.
"We've been thinking of ways to help
our dealers offset the financial impact of
COVID-19," says Mountain Hardwear sales
VP Troy Sicotte, adding the program was inspired by the industry's #saveyourlocalgearshop movement. "It's a small but important
gesture to help our partners weather this
unpredictable business climate."
Like a patient in the hands of a health care
worker, retailers are grateful for the support.
"It's a great opportunity to expand our reach
during these tough times," says Eric Stern,
founder of Casual Adventure in Arlington,
Virginia, one of Mountain Hardwear's inaugural dealers. For more info, email
sscheppmann@mountainhardwear.com
-Eugene Buchanan

Mountaineering, where he
worked post-retirement from
Trango simply because he
loves people and the busi-

ness. But Daly, who had
recently moved to Idaho with
his wife, Karen, suffered a
debilitating stroke on April
20. There has been a huge
outpouring from friends
throughout the industry, and
Daly is now in the Rehabilitation Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. But he and his family
still need support to make it
through during these tough
times. If you know Malcolm or
just want to help, you can donate through his GoFundMe
page (bit.ly/3aL9jfL).

-Doug Schnitzspahn

OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER 2020 / THE WEEKLY 7

http://www.Backcountry.com http://www.Backcountry.com http://www.mountainhardwear.com http://www.mountainhardwear.com http://www.BACKCOUNTRY.COM http://www.bit.ly/3aL9jfL

The Weekly - May 5, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Weekly - May 5, 2020