Episode Transcript
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Jessica Bowser (00:00):
From the Blue
Ridge Mountains to the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is amecca for outdoor travel and
adventure. Virginia outdooradventures Podcast is your local
guide for hiking, camping,kayaking, travel and so much
more. Get the information andthe inspiration to plan your own
adventure right here inVirginia, I'm your host. Jessica
(00:23):
Bowser, what if you couldacquire the outdoor gear you
need for your epic adventureswithout breaking the bank or
contributing to the fast fashionand throw away culture, or what
if you could declutter yourclosets and earn some extra cash
for the gear you aren't using?
April Peterson, owner of riverrock outfitter in
Fredericksburg, shares whysecond hand and consignment
(00:44):
shopping isn't just trendy, it'sa powerful way to reduce waste,
support your local businessesand adventure sustainably, while
also making the outdoors moreaccessible and affordable. April
uncovers the etiquette of buyingand selling pre loved gear, and
provides tips for gifting useditems, so your one of a kind
presents will be extra special.
(01:08):
Discover unique treasures whilekeeping gear in the wild. Let's
go Virginia. Outdoor Adventuresis sponsored by breaks,
Interstate Park, brakes Park isa hiking destination in the
heart of Appalachia. Every trailfeatures something that will awe
you, including geologicformations, scenic views of the
(01:29):
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breaks Interstate Park in theshow notes of your listening
app, April, welcome to Virginiaoutdoor adventures.
April Peterson (02:01):
Thank you so
much for having me, Jessica.
What do you love
Jessica Bowser (02:05):
about Virginia's
outdoors? Oh, man,
Unknown (02:08):
I love everything about
Virginia outdoors. You know, my
husband was is a retired Marine.
We've lived all over thecountry. One of the things that
I tell people all the time isthat we have the most amazing
State Park program, the factVirginia that you can go from
like Tip Top mountains tocoastline to marshes to flat
lands and everything in between.
(02:32):
It's just amazing that we haveso much landscape that we can go
and see and enjoy. So I'm notnecessarily an expert, but I
think that I've traveled enoughto know that Virginia is one of
the best states to visit for ouroutdoor recreation.
Jessica Bowser (02:48):
I'm really
excited to talk with you today
about consignment and resalegear, especially as we're going
to be coming up on the holidayshere really soon. And I thought
it might be interesting to kickthings off with a little bit of
a quiz. Do you mind if I put youon the hot seat? Let's do it all
right. So I have two multiplechoice questions for you, and
the first one is, how many tonsof textile waste end up in US
(03:13):
landfills annually? Is it A, 1million? B, 5 million or C, over
10 million? Oh,
Unknown (03:20):
man, I know it's a lot,
you know. Let's go somewhere in
between. B, you
Jessica Bowser (03:26):
know, the answer
is actually, C, it's over 10
million. The number is closer to11 million, if you can believe
that
Unknown (03:33):
that is wild. That's
wild. It
Jessica Bowser (03:35):
is really wild,
yeah, but it kind of goes to
show you know what the fastfashion industry has done, and
why consignment is a growingtrend in the US right now?
That's exactly right. And thenmy second question is, how many
pounds of plastic packagingwaste is created from online
shopping in the US annually? Isit A, 1 billion pounds? B, 2
(03:57):
billion pounds or C, 4 billionpounds?
Unknown (04:00):
Let's go for the big
one this time. Let's say c
Jessica Bowser (04:03):
you got it. I
know, right. You hope it's not
that much, but it is. It's over4 billion pounds. What we're
going to be talking about todayis really pertinent, not just
for the sustainability ofconsignment shopping, but also
we're going to be talking aboutaccessibility as well, because
we know that outdoor gear can bereally pricey and that can be a
(04:24):
barrier for a lot of peoplegetting outdoors. Yeah,
Unknown (04:26):
absolutely. And I think
the power of shopping local too,
because, as you discussed withshipping and plastics, and you
know, when you go into yourlocal gear shop, you avoid all
that. So I think, you know,that's a big part of the economy
conversation that I think we'llhave today.
Jessica Bowser (04:41):
How does buying
outdoor gear from a consignment
shop help reduce waste andlandfill impact?
Unknown (04:46):
Yeah, and I think it's
exactly what you just talked
about in those quizzes, which,you know, really opened my eyes
when I when I heard those bignumbers, as somebody who loves
gear, and I have a ton of gear,and that gear accumulates in
your car. Calls it, and you keepbuying new gear, because there's
new technologies out there. Youknow, consignment programs offer
(05:07):
us the opportunity to drop offour gear at a spot that's going
to keep that gear adventuring,where it's going to keep it in
the wild, so that somebody elsecan have access to it. And when
you shop local, and shop at oneof your local gear stores or
consignment stores, and you buysomething that's been pre used
or loved, you're keeping it inaction and all of us, whether
(05:30):
it's for a sustainabilitymission, because you appreciate
that about having a usedproduct, or whether it's because
you know you're trying to savesome money and get some really
good gear to get out there andclimb or hike or paddle. There's
just many reasons whyconsignment such a benefit, you
know, and that resell and reusemarket is such a good one for
(05:52):
the outdoor industry, aside
Jessica Bowser (05:53):
from being more
eco friendly, what are other
benefits of buying used gear?
How does it support thecommunity?
Unknown (05:59):
Yeah, you know what
consignment is so interesting?
And I think everybody's sort ofroute to consignment is
different, you know it's you'vegot consigners who for somebody
who drops off gear, or has theability to drop their gear off
at a consignment store, you havethe opportunity and make some
money, make some store credit,so you can get that next
greatest piece of gear thatyou're looking for. You've got
(06:21):
customers who may have, youknow, all sorts of reasons why
they haven't accessed theoutdoors, and one of them may be
an economic barrier. And so forthose guys, they can go into a
gear consignment shop and findreally good used gear at a
cheaper price. And then you'vegot store owners, and you know,
it's expensive to stock yourshelves with Outdoor Gear. It's
(06:44):
not any cheaper for us to buy itthan it is for the consumer. And
so from a store owner'sperspective, you know, we have
access to this used gear wherewe don't have to pay it out
until we've sold it. So havingthese three levels of customers,
you know, the customer, theconsigner and a store owner,
it's just such a healthy way todo business for really all three
(07:06):
of those people who all threehave different motivations for
why they support local gearshops. And then just think about
that from an economicdevelopment standpoint within
your communities, when you havethat use gear shop locally, and
you can tie that back to youroutdoor recreational economy in
your community. It's just a win,win, win, win. And it goes on
(07:30):
and on. Jessica theseconsignment programs, which are
just really exciting.
Jessica Bowser (07:34):
It is really
exciting. And I love going into
a consignment shop and feelingthat community, feeling when
you're in the store, especiallyknowing that all the items that
you're seeing there came fromyour neighbors. I think that's
kind of neat, too. It
Unknown (07:48):
is so cool. So when you
receive those consignment items
from the consigner, you know, wealways ask the question, Where
has this gear been? And it's,it's incredible, just that one
question, those answers that youget back. I mean, you know the
gears been down, you know,rivers and climbed mountains,
and they just have stories andgood quality use gear. And we
(08:12):
all know those, those brands whoproduce really good quality
gear, they're meant to last alifetime, truly, they'll outlast
you. So being able to put thatback out in the wild and allow
somebody to have access to it,just, how cool is it to think
that you're carrying a pack thathas been to the tip top of Mount
Rainier? You know, you're just,it's, it's like, it's like a
(08:36):
building, it's like anythingelse, you know, there's a
historic there's a story to thatpiece of gear, and you get to
carry on that story. That'sright,
Jessica Bowser (08:44):
it's no longer
an inanimate object. It now has
a history and a story with it.
So that's kind of neat. The lasttime that I was in river rock
outfitter, and I was diggingthrough some of the consignment
items, one of the tags had ashirt. It was for a shirt, and
the tag said that that shirt hadbeen up old rag mountain over
100 times. And I was like, what?
(09:07):
So, you know, I, you know, someof the stories are, you know,
less significant, but I thoughtthat one was really cool. It
just caught my attention.
Unknown (09:15):
It's just amazing. And,
you know, our very first cell in
our reboot program was my veryfirst kit when I went off to
college and and I got topurchase my first kit. For the
first time with my own money. Iwent into my local REI store in
Arizona where I was in college,and they hooked me up with a
(09:37):
backpack, a tent, a sleepingbag, you know, kind of that just
initial package you needed. AndI doled out my money, which I
didn't have very much of at thetime, doled out my money and had
my first kit, and I kept it withme for decades. You know? I
mean, it was special to me, evenwhen I had access, as a store
owner, to all this amazing newgear, and I wasn't using my
(09:58):
college gear anymore. I. But itwas special to me because it
held those memories. And so whenI opened up my consignment shop,
I wanted that to be the firstset of gear that I sold. And it
was just really cool to see thefamilies that purchased my pack
or purchased my tent, and I knewthat they were going to carry on
those great stories with thatgear. You know, there's so many
(10:19):
reasons why I think, making surethat this gear that was really
built to last a lifetime doesn'tend up in the trash somewhere,
doesn't end up in a warehousesomewhere doesn't end up staying
in your closet. You know,release it. We like to say,
release it back to the wild,
Jessica Bowser (10:40):
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(11:00):
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on the Nature Conservancy in theshow notes of your podcast
listening app. Do you have asense for how much money is
usually saved by purchasing usedgear? Yeah,
Unknown (12:16):
for us, when we sit in
price used gear, it really has
to do with the age of the gearand kind of quality of that gear
when it's brought in. And so forthe most part, most gear is
being priced at at least 50% offof what the Original MSRP prices
are, and a lot of times evenmore than that. So when we talk
about savings, there's reallysignificant savings in this
(12:40):
gear. You know, anotherinteresting thing that we found,
and it wasn't something that wewere expecting, is that so many
people buy this gear with thesebig hopes and aspirations and
dreams, and then life happens,right? They have kids, their
jobs, whatever, and theyactually don't make use of it.
So it's really surprising howoften you can go into a
(13:01):
consignment gear shop andactually find brand new gear,
often with the tag still on it.
And so it's not, you know, thisidea that it's this heavily used
or sort of old technology in agear section, sometimes you'll
find brand new gems that just,you know, didn't get used by the
previous owner. And so it's alot of fun. I think, that
discovery piece of a used gearshop, you know, you get to go
(13:24):
in, you know, it's constantlychanging. There's only one
piece, so you visit weekly, sothat you can kind of hunt
through and see what's new andwhat's different and what you
might find. And that discoverypiece within a gear shop is, I
think, a really fun aspect ofour store, and I know that I
hear that often from otherconsign consignment shops
Jessica Bowser (13:46):
well, and also I
think it's one of the main
reasons why consignment ingeneral has gotten so popular.
It seems like all of the youngfolks are consignment shopping
now. And I was talking to myfriend the other day who has a
daughter who is going off tocollege soon, and she came home
from one of the consignmentshops in the neighborhood with
all of these big baggy flannels.
And I could not believe it,because I'm looking at it going,
(14:10):
oh my gosh, like, that's what Iwore in the 90s, but that's the
style now. So she's out shoppingfor this kind of stuff. And I'm
going, No way this is nuts. Ithink it's hilarious. But if you
go into a consignment shop andyou're looking for something
like that, it's a greatopportunity to find those it's
the discovery piece that youtalked about
Unknown (14:30):
That's exactly right.
And you know, thrifting is just,it's a sport. It's the way I
describe it, like young peopletreat it like a sport. They know
where all their favorite thriftstores are, and they visit them
frequently to find littlespecial gems. And it's the most
exciting thing, I think, for theoutdoor industry, because one of
(14:53):
the ways, in my opinion, westruggle as an outdoor industry
is that we're we are. Reallyfocus on that older population,
the ones who have the means tobe able to purchase this new
gear, which is expensive, themeans and the time to be able to
travel to state parks, and youknow, all these places that
(15:14):
maybe you know, youngprofessionals might not have,
that those extra funds, and theymay not have the time. And I
love that the outdoor industryis making changes, and they're
doing it in lots of ways, andyou can see it in local
communities. They're buildinglocal trail systems. They're
building local mountain biking,you know, parks, they're they're
exposing their rocks and andhaving rental programs to get
(15:36):
people on rivers that way. Youdon't actually have to go far to
experience the outdoors. Andlikewise, I think stores are
bringing in this consignmentcomponent to their stores. That
way we can offer a way for theyounger users to be able to get
in at a better price point, butstill have high quality gear.
(15:57):
And that's the piece that I wantto emphasize, it's, it's not a
goodwill model, right? It is.
This is high quality gear thatyou're getting that has been
tested by our stores and ourgear experts, and we know that
it's going to work for you whenyou get out there on the trail.
And so you're still getting highquality pieces to be able to go
(16:19):
outdoors. But I love this pieceof this, like local economy
aspect, where, you know, citiesare doing their part, and I
think stores are doing theirpart to be able to expose the
outdoors to this youngergeneration.
Jessica Bowser (16:32):
That's such a
great point in this podcast is
always focused on introducingpeople to new activities, and
oftentimes that means having tofind the gear, and that can
often be a barrier for folks,especially if it's expensive
gear, because nobody wants tomake a big investment in, let's
say, a bike or a kayak orsomething else that costs a lot
(16:53):
of money, if they're not reallysure if they're going to get
into it, or, you know, how oftenare they going to use that gear?
And I think when somebody makesthat decision and then they
start shopping, this is a greatopportunity for that. And so in
past episodes, if I've beendoing an episode about mountain
biking, for example, I alwaysask, Where Can somebody find a
mountain bike without having togo into a bike shop and pay
(17:16):
hundreds or 1000s of dollars fora mountain bike? And so this is
the same concept, right? Peoplecan find things that maybe they
don't have the means for buyingbrand new, but it makes it
accessible to them.
Unknown (17:28):
That's exactly right.
And the story of the customer isa really good one. But I also
like the story of the consignertoo, because it opens up some
new doors for that person who isconsigning some of their older
gear, kind of like I talkedabout myself, right? I know that
I was not going to use my firstkit again. It was heavy, it was
bulky. I had some access to somenewer lighter gear that I wanted
(17:50):
to use as I get older. I need toconsider lighter packs on my
back to save my knees. Girl, youknow what I mean, and so as a
consigner, it allowed me theopportunity to earn some money
from that first kit, to be ableto put towards new gear that I
could get outdoors with. And,you know, I think the outdoor
(18:12):
industry, this is a whole nothershow, but the outdoor industry
has a problem with greenwashing.
So I think a lot of times wetalk a lot about being, you
know, sustainable, and we'remore sustainable than most, you
know, as an outdoor industry,but we're just as bad as as any
other industry in that we'reconstantly producing goods more
(18:34):
and more and more clothes everyseason, more colors. And so in a
lot of ways, we're, you know,we're a big part of the problem
as well. And I think, from aconsigner standpoint, what, what
this provides us is, rather thanconstantly buying new new new
with every new color that comesout, or every new upgrade in
(18:55):
technology, this allows us toput, you know, our gear which is
still usable, which is stillgreat, which is still high
quality, back out into the wild,earn some money before we
purchase that, that next greatthing. And so that's that life
cycle, I think, of gear, whetheryou're the customer or the
consigner. And I think that'swhere we really start building a
(19:17):
sustainable model within ouroutdoor system. And that's what
I really like about it.
Jessica Bowser (19:25):
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show notes of your podcastlistening app. So what kind of
gear can somebody find in anoutdoor gear consignment store?
I imagine it's not everything,right?
Unknown (21:11):
Yeah, it's, you know, I
think there's still some stigma
as there should be. You know,when you're wearing outdoor
gear, you're doing a lot ofthings in it, like sweating, so
a lot of, like, gross sort ofadventures, and a lot of that
stuff should probably not berepurposed in a gear shop, but
you would be amazed by what youfind. Jessica, you know, one of
the most exciting things for ourstore is when we sit and think,
(21:35):
hey, we we we know abouteverything. You know, because
we've got all the catalogs weget to go to the buying shows.
We hear from our reps, but withour consignment program,
somebody will always bring insomething where I'm like, wait a
second, what is that? And then Ilearn it's discovery on my part
too, where I'm like, I didn'teven know that existed. That is
so cool. And that's kind of thatgreat piece to that, that
(21:57):
consignment program all thedifferent, you know, bits and
bobs that you'll find. So, youknow, gear, I think it's a great
place to buy used backpacks,sleeping bags, because they're
easy to clean. You know, jacketsare a great thing to buy used.
And you'll find all sorts ofsort of mid layers and outer
(22:18):
layers within a gear store. Youknow, clothes I think is
absolutely fine, and you'll finda lot of that. In fact, we the
thing we saw the most is softgoods, our clothes. And again,
because these outdoor brands arebuilding clothes really well.
It's not like a fast fashionsort of industry. We're building
clothes with technology that'smeant to last. And so you can
(22:41):
get a lot of great close towithin an outdoor store. But I
encourage people just go to yourlocal find your local
consignment shop, wherever thatis, and just go in. You know, I
think maybe this podcast, theterm for this podcast, is
discovery. I didn't even writethat down, but I love that term.
Since you and I have beentalking, it is discovery. Go in
(23:04):
and see what you may not haveknown exist, and you, I promise
you, will not leave that storewithout something cool,
different you didn't know youneeded it absolutely.
Jessica Bowser (23:15):
And for folks
who want to sell some of the
gear that they have at home,maybe they just need to make
more space, or they want todeclutter, or they're not using
it, or they just want some extracash. How does outdoor
consignment work? Do they justbring it into the store and you
sell it for them? Or what's theprocess? Yeah,
Unknown (23:31):
so definitely Google
your you know, local consignment
store. We're lucky in Virginia,because we pretty much have a
consignment shop in each of theregions. So you've anybody who's
listening to this podcast hasone nearby, so definitely google
it. Find your local one. Checkout their website to see what
the terms are. A lot of us havevery similar terms. I mean, for
(23:54):
river rocks, reboot program, theconsigner gets a little bit more
of a percentage if they receivepayment back in store credit.
It's just a benefit to us, butit's an also a benefit to our
consigners, because they knowthat they're going to be
spending it on something. Andthat's the cool thing. A lot of
times, our consigners will comein and say, Hey, I need a new
pack. I need a new bag, I need anew whatever. And so they've
(24:16):
they're bringing in consignmentto earn their money, and we've
got consigners sitting on, I'mnot exaggerating, like, 1000s of
dollars, Jessica, they justsaving it for a kayak or, you
know, whatever it is that theywant. So it's, it's a really
cool way to get that next pieceof gear. But then consignment
shops will typically alwaysoffer a cash out option too,
(24:38):
typically at a little bit of aless, less of a percentage, but
for somebody who's like, I'vealready got everything that I
need, I'm not looking foranything right now. Just send me
a check for my gear. And thattoo is beneficial to a to a gear
shop, again, from the standpointthat I don't have to pay you
until that item has sold. And soit's a benefit to both of us,
(24:58):
that relationship. So. So it's agreat way to earn a little extra
money, or put it towards a cool,new piece of gear.
Jessica Bowser (25:06):
Oh, how cool.
Especially with the holidayscoming up, I feel like it's
always a good time to sort ofclear things out that you don't
need anymore, because you knowthat more stuff is going to be
coming in. That's exactly right.
So for those who are thinkingabout shopping for others by
buying consignment. Is there anystigma around giving gifts of
used outdoor gear and especiallyapparel? You
Unknown (25:28):
know, I think that this
is also generational. I think if
you have younger people in yourlives, there's very little
stigma around it. I mean, theseguys are comfortable. They talk
in terms of thrifting. Theyunderstand sustainability in a
way that I think our generationmaybe didn't, and certainly
older generations didn't. So ifyou've got a younger person, I
(25:49):
think they're going to see it assuch a plus that you bought them
something used, and make surethey know it too. Maybe get some
stickers from that used gearshop, put it inside the card,
let them know what you did,because they'll see it as not
only do they get somethingreally cool from you, they're
going to understand, you know,from a thoughtfulness
standpoint, what you just did interms of environmentalism and in
(26:12):
shopping local for an older, youknow, generation, let's say 40
plus, not to give away any ofour ages, you know, 4045, plus.
This is where I think you gottatell a little bit more of a
story, right? I think clothesare fine. I think gear is fine.
I think just look at it and makesure that you're buying a
(26:33):
quality piece. And then makesure you tell the story for how
you chose to shop local topurchase them that piece of
gear, you know, you know theperson that you're buying for.
You know if they're going to becomfortable with it and what
their their comfort level is,and if they are going to
understand and appreciate thatstory, then I would say, go for
(26:53):
it. So
Jessica Bowser (26:54):
there is some
etiquette it sounds like when
giving secondhand gear. Andthat's really good advice,
because I think the last thingyou want is for somebody to open
up a gift and go, you bought mewhat?
Unknown (27:05):
That's exactly right.
And I think, you know, giftgiving is so personal, we should
always sort of think about thatend user when we're buying a
gift. And it's no different ifit's used gear and new gear. You
know who you're buying for. Andif you think that they'll
appreciate that story, it's aspecial story, so don't be
scared to do it.
Jessica Bowser (27:23):
Yeah. You know,
in fact, I think if I purchased
something secondhand that stillhad the tag on it with the
description of where thatproduct had been and what that
what that item's history is, Iwould leave it on. I mean, I
think that's part of the charm.
That's
Unknown (27:37):
exactly right. Exactly
right.
Jessica Bowser (27:41):
Looking for an
outdoor gear consignment shop
near you. Check out these localneighborhood Outfitters, Good
Wolf gear in Reston, high tourGear Exchange in
Charlottesville, Roanokemountain adventures in Roanoke
trail hut in Richmond, and riverrock outfitter in
Fredericksburg. Check your shownotes for the links, white used
(28:04):
outdoor products are appropriateto give and which ones should be
skipped. Thinking, Joel,
Unknown (28:09):
I usually whether it's
new or used. I try to steer
people away from things that aresuper personal, like pair of
boots, right? I mean, that'sshoes are personal. Everybody's
feet are different. It's hard tosort of judge that, and a lot of
times with used gear shops, oneof the limiting factors is
because it's consigners thatyou're paying a lot of times,
(28:31):
used gear shops won't have verylengthy return policies, so
definitely check that, becauseonce we pay out the consigner,
we're not going to take that,that product back, so make sure
you understand the use gearshops return policies before you
do this. But think about thingsfrom that sort of discovery
piece, the thing that might benew or different, something that
(28:54):
the end user, the person you'regiving the gift to, may not know
about. Find those unique littlegems within a gear shop that are
really cool and different, youknow, packs and bags and belts
and all sorts of cool things.
You know, a lot of used gearshops are also doing fun things
around there's, you know,there's certain rules around
some of the things we sell. Forexample, we can't sell anything
(29:16):
that was weighted. So we can'tsell climbing gear. For example,
we can't sell or use climbinggear. We can't sell helmets,
anything like that, becauseyou're not from a safety
standpoint, it's not good to buythat used. So what we'll do is
we'll still take it because wedon't, again, don't want it to
go into a landfill. But a lot ofused gear shops are doing fun
(29:37):
things with those pieces. So forexample, they may be making dog
collars or leashes out of oldclimbing rope. So talk to some
of these gear shops to find out.
Hey, are you repurposing any ofthat used gear that's coming in
that you may not have been ableto sell into something cool, new
(29:57):
and different? So it's just thiscan go. This goes on. On and on
and on. And this is the fun partabout discovering your local
gear shops and then taking atour around Virginia and
discovering them all, becauseeach specializes in different
things based off of their youknow, community of consigners.
It's endless what you might beable to find and discover in a
(30:17):
used gear shop. April,
Jessica Bowser (30:19):
do you want to
describe a little bit what river
rocks reboot part of the storelooks like, what people can
expect when they come into thestore. Yeah,
Unknown (30:27):
absolutely. You know,
we opened store 10 years ago,
and from the beginning, I alwayswanted a used gear portion of
our store. I had fallen in lovewith a used gear store in
Vermont that just never left mymemory, and I always wanted that
within our store, but coming upwith the policies and procedures
and getting it rolling, I neverdid that. And then COVID hit,
(30:50):
and one of the challenges forthe outdoor industry was sort of
a good challenge and a badchallenge. On the bad side, we
had supply chain interruption,where it was just really
difficult to get gear. On thegood side, we had a bunch of new
customers because, as people hadmore time, because they were
they had to, you know, stay athome from their jobs. They were
(31:10):
discovering local trails andgoing outdoors where it was
safe. And so we had morecustomers, but less gear. And so
in 2020 I started our program,which we branded as reboot. And
honestly, from a small businessperspective, we talked about
this earlier in the podcast,where it's motivations, right?
What motivates each of thecustomer types to shop or sell
(31:34):
use gear? My motivation was Ijust had to get gear. It was
survival. I just had to havegear in my store to sell. And so
it was a great motivation for meto get kick started this
consignment program. And soreboot for me, I won a grant
through national Main Street,and I was able to really brand
(31:55):
it. We came up with, you know,some logos around the idea of
recycling adventure. We ourtagline is keep gear in the
wild, and really was able tomarket our gear shop. And more
importantly, you know, everygear shop needs sales, but more
importantly, we could tell thestory of why use gear was
(32:17):
important, and that's been themost fun for me. My reboot
section is merchandise rightalongside my new gear. It was
important to me that ascustomers come into the store,
they don't really feel likethere's a difference, you know,
if there is any of that stigma,you know, I wanted to take down
that barrier within the shop so,you know, you've got new gear
(32:39):
right next to the used gear soit all kind of meshes and melds
together and tells that story.
And so I've really enjoyed that.
I think that it, you know, theshopping experience is a good
one. And any of the other usedgear shops around Virginia, and
I've been to all of them,because we all call each other,
we all talk to each other, weall learn from each other. And
(33:01):
all the gear shops are the sameway. They're just so much fun.
And like we discussed before,Jessica, it's just your local
gear shop is the heartbeat ofyour community. It's, you know,
one of my employees called it,you know, river rock, the cheers
of our downtown. We knoweverybody's name, we know their
children's name, we know theirdog's name. Our customers come
(33:24):
in, they show us pictures fromtheir travels, like we just get
to know each other in a way thatI'm not sure happens in all
other stores. So outdoor storesare so special that way, and I
encourage all of your community,and I know your community is so
good about supporting outdoors,so I'm preaching to the choir
here, but go and find your localgear shops that that kind of
(33:45):
heartbeat, and discover the onesthat are selling this used gear,
and they're going to help youwith that discovery piece to get
that very special gift, or thatnext piece of gear that you need
to get outdoors. And maybe evenmore importantly, for our local
communities, they're going totell you about the local trails
and the local water and thelocal rocks and all the fun ways
(34:06):
that you can adventure justwalking outside. You know your
back door. So it's, it's alllinked together. And you know,
Jessica, the fact that you tellthat story every day with your
podcast is just, it's, it's animportant link to all of this.
We're all doing such good workto promote the outdoors and all
(34:29):
the benefits of playing in theoutdoors, particularly in
Virginia, River Rock
Jessica Bowser (34:33):
has some
exciting things coming in the
future, doesn't it?
Unknown (34:39):
Yes? Well, because of
all these wonderful things we
were talking about on here, myprograms are growing and
expanding and and that's that'sgreat. And so we are opening up
our second store. We're still inFredericksburg, but we're taking
it outside of our historicdistrict, and we're opening up
in an outdoor mall center herecalled Central. Park. And
(35:00):
basically that's just going togive me more square footage,
more usable square footage, toexpand my new offerings, but to
also expand and continue to growreboot, which is what we're
really excited about. So peoplewill be able to find us in that
new space in April of 2025
Jessica Bowser (35:18):
Wow, I can't
wait. I mean, I love the
location you're in now, but alsoI could see where it's a little
awkward because you are downtownMain Street area, so parking,
you know, you kind of have tosometimes park a block or two
away. And I've seen peoplecarrying kayaks out of your
store down the street.
Unknown (35:35):
Well, the same, like,
same with our consigners. You
know, our consigners bring inthese big bags of all of their
gear, you know, backpacks andshoes and so I, you know, I
think giving them theopportunity to make that process
easier, we're really excitedabout, yes,
Jessica Bowser (35:50):
whenever you can
park a little bit closer to the
door, that's usually a littlemore convenient. Awesome. Okay,
so we're gonna wrap it up herereally soon, but I have a couple
of closing questions, and onethat I'm really excited to ask
you, especially since you weresort of the gear queen, and you
know, everything there is toknow about outdoor gear. And
that question is, what is onepiece of gear you can't live
(36:13):
without? You
Unknown (36:14):
know, you, you sent me
this question in advance, and
I'll tell you what. I lost somesleep over it last night,
because I have so many babies,so many pieces of gear that I
love, but I started to thinkthrough like my adventures and
what is always with me, andKeith and I, my husband and co
owner of the shop. We love totravel. We love adventure
(36:36):
travel, discovering newlocations and countries and
places. And the one thing that'salways with me is my Patagonia
black hole duffel, that sucker.
It's a duffel, and it's abackpack, and one which is
perfect for the type oftraveling that we like to do. So
I feel like, if that that mightbe I don't want any of my other
pieces of gear to hear me saythat that one's my favorite, but
(36:59):
I definitely think I use thatone the most. That's
Jessica Bowser (37:04):
awesome.
Anything that's versatile, likethat tends to go to the top of
the Favorites list, right? Likeyou can do so many different
things with a versatile piece ofgear, and that makes it worth
hanging on to for a really longtime. That's exactly right.
Awesome. April, how canlisteners connect with you and
with river rock outfitter,
Unknown (37:23):
yeah, check us out on
our website at WWW dot river
rock outfitter.com and you canalso follow us on our social
media pages at River Rockoutfitter, on Facebook and on
Instagram.
Jessica Bowser (37:34):
April. Thank you
so much for joining me today on
Virginia outdoor adventures. Doyou also want to mention what
your store hours are for peoplewho are coming in for some
holiday shopping. Yeah,
Unknown (37:44):
Heck, yeah. So we are
open seven days a week. We're
open Monday through Saturday, 10to six, and Sunday, 11 to four.
And if you follow us along onour social media pages, on
Facebook and Instagram at RiverRock outfitter, you'll find that
we've got some extended holidayhours too, which we're excited
about. So yeah, come on down.
Check out Fredericksburg in theholidays. I it's, it's like a
(38:06):
hallmark town. It's amazing. You
Jessica Bowser (38:11):
are absolutely
going to see me in
Fredericksburg before theholidays. I'm going to be in the
shop for sure, because I I'mreally excited to be doing some
consignment shopping this yearfor the first time for other
people. So yeah, I can't wait tosee you there. Thank you so
much. April adventure on
Unknown (38:28):
Thank you. Jessica.
Jessica Bowser (38:30):
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