[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 67 (Monday, May 16, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2988-S2989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I wish to bring the attention of the 
Senate to a small business in Vermont, the Outdoor Gear Exchange, which 
is moving to a new location near and dear to my heart--the Church 
Street Marketplace in Burlington.
  A large, national retailer recently chose to depart the Marketplace. 
This left a big hole on one of our nation's most successful pedestrian 
malls. The local owners of the Outdoor Gear Exchange, Marc Sherman and 
Mike Donahue, quickly took the opportunity to move their successful 
venture from a nearby side street onto Church Street.
  As a longtime supporter of the Church Street Marketplace, I was 
pleased to see this locally owned and much-beloved fixture in the 
Vermont business scene fill one of the most high-profile store fronts 
on Church Street.
  I hope Americans interested in good news during this difficult 
economy might take a moment to read about this great business, and I 
ask unanimous consent to have the May 16, 2011, Burlington Free Press 
article written by Dan D'Ambrosio entitled ``Outdoor Gear Exchange 
takes its store, and philosophy, into a bigger space'' printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Burlington Free Press, May 16, 2011]

 Outdoor Gear Exchange Takes Its Store, and Philosophy, Into a Bigger 
                                 Space

       At the beginning of last week, Marc Sherman, co-owner of 
     Outdoor Gear Exchange, sat in the empty, cavernous space on 
     Church Street where he was moving his business--in the spot 
     Old Navy used to occupy--and contemplated the grand opening 
     of his new store approaching on Thursday.
       Sitting surrounded by partially finished displays and 
     unopened boxes of merchandise scattered about on the concrete 
     floor, it was hard to believe. But Sherman and his crew of 65 
     full-time employees were determined to be ready for this 
     week's ribbon cutting and remarks by Gov. Peter Shumlin. 
     Sherman said the creation of his new store--at 15,000 square 
     feet of retail space, twice the size of the old store on 
     Cherry Street--cost more than $100,000.
       ``All of my staff is running around putting this 
     together,'' Sherman said last week. ``Unlike most stores, 
     we're not moving into a store, we're building our own. That 
     increases everyone's commitment.''
       Sherman said he thinks of his staff as family, and said the 
     rush to get the new store open has been exhilarating. He's 
     proud to be, he says, the first local store in that prime 
     space on Church Street in a very long time.
       ``I have the world's greatest staff,'' Sherman said. 
     ``Everyone is fun and enthusiastic. They're funny and smart. 
     I love hanging out with them. They're all really active. To 
     me that is the most important thing about what I do. I like 
     the people I work with.''
       Sherman grew up in Englewood, N.J., moving to New York City 
     after graduating from college to take a job crunching numbers 
     for the marketing department of a manufacturing company, a 
     job he remembers as ``not particularly exciting.''
       On winter weekends, he would drive to Vermont to ski at 
     Ludlow.
       ``I realized every weekend I wanted to go home to New York 
     less and less,'' Sherman said. ``I never had a bad experience 
     in Vermont. I said, Why not stay here and visit New York?' 
     That was 19 years ago.''
       Sherman began his business with a friend in 1995 in an 800-
     square-foot space on Main Street, where Tonic is now. Their 
     business plan was based on the fact that Sherman had more 
     outdoor equipment than he knew what to do with, and his 
     friend didn't have any.
       ``We wanted to connect people who have too much with people 
     who have too little and make it affordable for them to get 
     outside because, I'll be the first to say, the gear is 
     expensive; the clothing is expensive,'' Sherman said.
       Sherman quickly moved beyond consignments, settling on a 
     three-tier model. Consignment items still make up about 8 
     percent of his business, all of it walk-in, but the bulk is 
     in new clothing and gear plus seconds, close-outs and 
     cosmetic blemishes. There are very few outdoors stores using 
     this particular mix of product offerings, Sherman said.
       ``It's a model that's proven to work even if it doesn't 
     always make sense,'' Sherman said. ``Somebody is looking at a 
     full-price backpack for $450 next to somebody looking at a 
     close-out backpack for $250, next to somebody looking at a 
     used backpack for $150, and we sell to all of them. Some 
     people want to spend more for what's out this year. Some 
     people want to save a little. We have something for 
     everybody.''
       Sherman also went his own way when it came to deciding what 
     to stock.
       ``We felt if we opened a store that would focus on what 
     consumers are looking for opposed to what manufacturers are 
     generating,

[[Page S2989]]

     we'd be successful,'' Sherman said. ``We always tried to find 
     gear our friends would buy, or that we would want to buy.''
       Outdoor Gear Exchange also does an online business account 
     for 25 percent of its sales and growing, nearly doubling this 
     year. Sherman was able to consolidate his online staff from 
     where they were, in a space above The Body Shop on Church 
     Street, to offices in his new space. Although he doesn't 
     release sales figures, Sherman did say his annual payroll 
     approaches $1 million.
       With all the extra space to work with in the new location, 
     Sherman and co-owner Mike Donohue are getting into gear for 
     family camping, also known as car camping, which will put 
     them in competition with Dick's Sporting Goods in Williston. 
     Traditionally, Outdoor Gear Exchange has focused on 
     backpackers, climbers and hikers, ``folks going out into the 
     wilderness,'' Sherman said, and who place a high value on 
     light-weight gear.
       But Sherman said family camping is a growing segment of the 
     market, especially for people his age--45 years old. It's not 
     inexpensive to get into, but once you're set up, it is a 
     relatively cheap vacation. The priorities for the gear are 
     different than those for hikers and climbers.
       ``Car camping is a little more focused on amenities and 
     space, as opposed to weight,'' Sherman said. ``We'll offer 
     tents with more features oriented toward cushy living, 
     thicker sleeping pads, things like that.''
       Sherman also plans to expand his offering of casual outdoor 
     clothing to include lower price ranges than he has 
     historically stocked, in memory of the recently departed Old 
     Navy.
       ``We're sensitive to the fact that Old Navy provided a 
     service to folks who couldn't afford more expensive 
     clothing,'' Sherman said. ``Whether it was high quality or 
     not, the bottom line is it was highly affordable. We want to 
     make sure that doesn't become a void in the downtown, so 
     we'll look for outdoor casual that's more affordable than 
     what we currently sell.''
       Eventually, Sherman plans to add another 8,000 square feet 
     of retail space in the basement of his new space, which he is 
     also leasing. Panera Bread, the national chain of bakery-
     cafes, will also be on the main floor of the building as the 
     only other tenant, although there will be no physical 
     connection between the two businesses. Panera isn't expected 
     to open for another month or two.
       ``I hope we get some bread smell, but that's about it,'' 
     Sherman said.

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