Built For The Mountain Life

Dealer Profile - Black Squirrel Outfitters

MK Dealer Services Rep and Permanent Glow Kim Bruno offers some detail on one of her favorite and most successful dealers.

Black Squirrel is a premier men’s store located in Pelham, NY.  Anne Ainslie has created a very personal one on one experience for her customer.  The store is 8 x 30 feet (240 sq feet) and is the pure essence of a intimate experience.  She showcases high end lines that can cross over from the “rugged outdoors” to a night downtown and she keeps her offering tight – we are one of the premier lines located in Black Squirrel.  She is one of our better MK dealers and really knows how to take her customer to a new level of shopping.  Making each interaction and purchase extra special.  Thank you Anne for making Mountain Khakis one of your offerings.  You have definitely made the MK impact in the NYC area.

You can read a recent article about Anne and her shop here.

On the Road with the Coordinator of Karma

MK Ambassador and Team Jackson Kayak paddler Jez Blanchard is currently traveling the world, with his boat, teaching and competing.  Get some!

Over the past few weeks I have been teaching at Camps in NC, spending a fair bit of time instructing at Falling Creek Camp. Now here's the thing, I guess I am a bit selfish, but the rewards of teaching are some of the best times I have had in a kayak. Seeing a kid nail his roll, with a look of sheer excitement. Awesome!

Over one day, I was fortunate to be a part of 5 kids dialing in their roll. After seeing EJ's effort of teaching someone how to roll in less than 15 mins, I am happy to say that I have blown that out of the water by getting a kid who has never been in a kayak before to roll by himself in less than 10 minutes. Yea, I know that seems ridiculous, especially since it took me over 2 weeks of consistent trial and effort, almost close to 10 years ago to do the same. The entire class came together to cheer for him, which drove the rest to do better and complete their rolls.

What an amazing day! Thanks to Brian Mangum for the pics.

Premiere of "Downunder the Horizonline" at Diamond Brand

Below is an announcement from MK Ambassador and Team Jackson Kayak member Jez Blanchard:

Diamond Brand Outdoors of Asheville, NC will be holding a free premiere of our new film, Downunder the Horizonline by Skippy Films on July 31st at 7:30pm.  The folks at Diamond Brand are organizing a very cool night with some food and giveaways.  This is a truly independent film made with no financial assistance from sponsors and is the first whitewater kayaking film to feature Australia.  The film includes footage from all over the world including Canada, Norway, USA and more.  So come along and check it out, and maybe even buy a copy for yourself.

Cheers mate, hope to see you all there.  - Jez

www.skippyfilms.com

International Climbers Festival - Recap

MK Dealer Services Rep and recent road warrior Jessica Hoffmann steps in with a recap:

After visiting some great MK dealers in the area, I got to attend the 15th Annual International Climbers Festival in Lander, Wyoming.  This was my first time climbing at Wild Iris, which at about 9000 feet elevation, is some of the most beautiful and remote-feeling sport climbing I have done.  We chased the shade as much as possible on pumpy, pocketed classics amidst buff climbers sporting MKs, and attended the festivities in Lander put together by the IFC crew, and many folks from NOLS and Wild Iris Mountain Sports. 

seed sucker - organic apparel with a conscience

 

Brent Boone, co-owner of Tailwaters Flyfishing in Dallas, TX and a friend of Mountain Khakis, has announced the launch of his new t-shirt company called Seed Sucker.  The company was conceived with the idea of promoting environmental awareness through t-shirts made of 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton.  Slogans and taglines on the shirts create awareness of recycling and other environmental issues. 

In addition to selling shirts, Brent and his girlfriend have created a non-profit organization, the Seed Sucker Foundation, that Seed Sucker sales will fund.  The mission of the organization is to donate mature trees to communities affected by natural disasters.  As the foundation grows the plan includes venturing out to other avenues of awareness, including environmental education and restoration.  Seed Sucker will donate mature trees that will instantly improve the environment and landscape, rather than simply seeding new trees.

Support Brent by browsing his website and purchasing a tshirt.  Rest easy knowing that dollars from your sale will support areas ravaged by natural disasters. 

Dealer Profile: Massey's Outfitters - New Orleans

Here at MK we acknowledge the fact that our business depends heavily on the efforts of our retailers, without whom we couldn't do what we do.  We always love to hear from a new (or old) retailer about their successes and/or challenges. 

We're excited to say that one of our newer doors, Massey's Outfitters - New Orleans, is embracing the message of Mountain Khakis while also having an inspirational story of their own.  Their current building, known as the Rowley Building, was storm-damaged and submerged in water from Hurricane Katrina before being renovated and overhauled.  The building itself was restored mostly by Massey's staff members, with a goal not to erase the century-old interior but to restore it to the original state. The new location acts as a retail site plus a warehouse and distribution center.    The company will serve as a great model for small-to-medium sized businesses that want to remain in or move to New Orleans as they expand their business.

Mike Massey, third generation owner, stated that the family got started in the sporting good business in New Orleans, so he felt like this is the right time to be returning.  Massey's also operates stores in Metairie, Baton Rouge and Covington.   

We recently got a nice note from Eddie, the store manager in New Orleans, about how well the brand was doing and how "pumped" the staff is about MK.  We love to hear that, nice work Eddie, thanks for all the hard work.  Eddie also sent us some great photos of himself and some friends climbing in Sedona, Arizona, wearing their MKs, of course.  Enjoy the photos by hitting the link below.

Dealer Profile - Duke's Northshore

Three cheers to Duke's Northshore for sending us great pictures of their Mountain Khakis displays.  They have been an integral part in introducing MKs to Canada and the response has been fantastic.  Currently Duke's front windows are filled with Mountain Khakis and MK merchandising pieces on display.  It looks great.  Duke's has four locations - three in Ontario and one in British Columbia.  The brainchild of Sam Baio, who also pilots the popular West 49 stores, Duke's is looking to expand their locations and concept in the near future.  While West 49 has a young, surf- and board-inspired feel, Duke's focuses on "men's action apparel" and has multiple video screens displaying televised sports in the stores.  Be sure to check them out when you are in the area!

Dealer Shout-Out: Brush Creek Dry Goods

Mountain Khakis would like to congratulate Brush Creek Dry Goods of Edwards, Colorado for being selected in the Best In Vail Valley Contest for "Best Men's Store 2008" by readers of the local newspaper.  This is a major accomplishment for Brush Creek, seeing as they compete with Pepi's, Gorsuch and other well established, highly visible, long-time retailers in the Vail/Beaver Creek area.

Brush Creek Dry Goods is going on their 9th year of business at the Riverwalk complex in Edwards, a small town (although not for long) outside of Avon, near Vail and Beaver Creek.  Congratulations to Brush Creek Dry Goods, we're proud to do business with you.  Keep up the good work.

Dealer Profile: Half-Moon Outfitters

In today's outdoor retail world, with the plethora of dealers and outfitters that exist, it is important for companies to distiguish themselves from the others.  Half-Moon Outfitters, of Charleston, South Carolina, has done a great job with this task while at the same time improving their carbon footprint and making a statement for green business practices in an industry where this issue is at the forefront.

Last year, Half-Moon opened South Carolina's first Platinum LEED Certified building, which is used as their warehouse and headquarters.  Now, Half-Moon is set to begin environmental renovation of their new flagship location.  They have also committed to using as strict environmental guidelines as possible for any new store they open.

As an ultimate compliment to the great environmental practices Half-Moon Outfitters is exhibiting, the Outdoor Industry Association has recently named Half-Moon as a finalist for their Outdoor Industry Innovator Award, "recognizing a business achievement by an outdoor company who has made significant contributions toward the continued innovation and growth of the outdoor industry."  The winner will be announced at OR Winter Market's Industry Breakfast.

Congratulations to Half-Moon Outfitters.  We are proud to do business with them.  Keep up the good work.

For more info, click here and here

Dealer Profile: Yostmark Mountain Equipment

Written by MK Dealer Services Rep Jessica Hoffmann, the newest addition to our Jackson Hole office.

I accidentally had a great experience with one of our newest dealers, Yostmark Mountain Equipment, last weekend.  As a dealer services rep covering the Rockies, Idaho is actually not part of my territory.  So Yostmark was a new name to me.  Last weekend at Grand Targhee Resort, I found myself woefully lacking in winter sports equipment, and thus was a regular throughout the weekend at the Demo Days tents, sponsored by Yostmark.  I met a lot of friendly faces and learned that a great deal had changed since my last skiing excursion nine years ago.  After the Demo Days closed, I wandered into Driggs, ID on my way home and decided to check out what looked like a newly opened gear shop.  I found many of the same friendly faces in the store who had been up at the demo, and when I saw the fresh Mountain Khakis display, I eventually relinquished my identity as an MK employee.