“Sorry.” This apology used to be part of my food prep ritual, offered up every time I fired up my stove and had to stop all conversation for the next three minutes or so. My old stove sounds like it's taxiing for takeoff, rather than bringing water to a boil. Then I switched ...read more
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam climbed into a kayak along the marshy shore of Carvins Cove Natural Reserve on Thursday. Wearing a "Virginia is for outdoor lovers" T-shirt, he spent part of his day paddling the lake, enjoying one of the places that will be protected by a new state ...read more
Not long ago, a backpack was doomed to look like the Clampett mobile, with bulky gear hanging everywhere. Among the biggest offenders: the closed-cell sleeping pad. But when Cascade Designs came up with the inflatable Therm-a-Rest, the sleeping pad began to slowly shrink in size ...read more
Let's face it. First impressions are hard to counter. As a backpacker, my first impression of the Grayl Geopress ($90) was, “Wow. It’s big. And heavy.” This filter is nearly equivalent to the size of a 32-ounce Nalgene, weighing about a pound. So next to my Sawyer— measuring the ...read more
Picture this: a customer walks into a specialty retail shop, spends an hour chatting with a sales associate to find just the right pair of shoes—then heads out empty-handed to go buy that exact pair online. This frustrating situation has played out in countless retail shops ...read more
Not long after Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario wrote a blog post in June about the value in giving employees time off to vote—something she did in November 2016 and is doing again this year on Election Day—she started talking to other company executives on both sides of the political ...read more
The sky over North Carolina was blue, and filled with puffy clouds and a bright sun on Tuesday, showing no signs of the eminent storm. But the rain is coming. "It’s almost eerie," said Betsy Bertram, of Townsend Betram & Company in Carrboro. "You look at the weather forecast and ...read more
Farm to Feet celebrates its fifth-year anniversary, and it’s difficult to believe that such a well-oiled company was introduced as recently as the 2013 Outdoor Retailer winter show. Despite the brand’s choice to specialize in what was perceived by many as a saturated ...read more
The black-curtained maze at Grassroots Connect is swarming with like-minded independent specialty retailers placing orders, talking shop, sharing ideas and, yes, commiserating about the challenges they face every day in their businesses. This group of retailers, all members of ...read more
Whenever Zach Roberts, manager of Great Outdoor Provision Company's Virginia Beach store, hires a new employee, the first bit of encouragement he offers is this. "Everyone who lives in this area can sit at home and buy what we have in the store online so why should they leave, ...read more
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines: Have a news tip? We've created a new form where you can submit tips and story ideas. We are heartbroken to hear that Charlotte Fox, the 61-year-old accomplished high-altitude mountaineer, tragically died last ...read more
Once Sam Valone turned 13, he could expect to be woken up at least one morning every summer to tag shipments of Patagonia merchandise for the North Carolina Great Outdoor Provision Co., founded by his father and two others in 1972. “I would spend the whole day down in the ...read more
Everyone in this industry knows the problem by now: The rise of online shopping has turned the traditional outdoor marketplace on its head. Consumers now turn to the internet first when they need new gear; brands seize the chance to sell it directly through their own websites or ...read more
Members of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance gather in Albuquerque, NM, this week to close deals and to celebrate exemplary members of the outdoor industry. ALBUQUERQUE, NM--At the opening of Grassroots Connect last night, a buying show for invited members of the outdoor industry, ...read more
