Page 39 - the NOISE October 2014

BusInessnews
greenIng the outdoors
frOM LefT: CSW & entrepreneur Kathryn Peterson
of flagstaff Used Sports exchange showcases a story & photos by Pedego electric bicycle.; a fraction of the inventory clair anna rose
localwIse, thrIftwIse, sustaInaBlewIse at fUSe; a close-up of the Pedego battery unit.
It was a pretty exciting winter for me towards the end of my business. I still sell to a lot of growing families, but I the battery, she starts the bike and it whirrs to life. With
of 2009 as I was gearing up for a three week long white water rafting trip on the Colorado River. Part of the ex- citement was gathering all the necessary gear I would need to keep me outfitted and dry for three weeks, and most importantly, warm.
At that time a new store had opened downtown at 19 W. Aspen. The opening of Flagstaff Sports Exchange was a serendipitous stroke of luck. Week in and week out I would go on the hunt to see what new gear had rolled in that could be scavenged to make the trip more comfort- able. A wool jacket here, a rain slicker there and the fun of preparing for what was to be a memorable trip. It was also nice to not pay and arm and a leg as well.
I meet with Kathryn Peterson, owner of Flagstaff Sports Exchange and we talk about the business over the years. This time of year an array of sporting goods and gear fill the racks and shelves — from backpacking, mountain and river gear to water sports to sleeping bags. High quality boots, shoes and sports sandals line the walls, wet suits, jackets and hats are beginning to make an ap- pearance as the seasons begin to change. And while it may soon be time for skis and snowshoes in Flagstaff, the canoe and water sports gear can still be used in some of our warmer neighbor regions to the south.
“I opened this store in June 2009, in the recession,” she tells me. “I had retired from being a clinical social worker for 28 years and I asked myself what small business could make it in Flagstaff? What would it have to imbue? It would have to be recession friendly, it would have to be
‘green,’ it would have to be Flagstaff-ish and it would have to meet an un-met niche. What could that possibly be? I couldn’t think of it, but I knew it was right there inside my brain. And when my friend said, ‘I just spent five hundred dollars at Big Five for my kids sport’s gear,’ I thought: ‘Gear! Outdoor gear, team sports gear, all kinds of gear! It’s all over town and nobody is organizing a clearing house to re-sell it.’ So I just hit the ground running and I knew re- cycling high-quality outdoor gear and sports gear was a good idea and it wasn’t being done here.”
Now Flagstaff Sports Exchange has been open for five years, “It’s definitely grown. I didn’t have any experience in this kind of business so I learned how to surround myself with people who are more organized than I so the shop runs more smoothly,” Ms. Peterson tells me. “The initial vision in my mind was growing families with kids trying different things, like skating, karate, soccer and outgrow- ing the equipment. As it turns out that’s not the majority
tend to have backpackers, rock climbers, campers, and hikers. That’s the majority of my business, from age 18 to outdoor adventurers in their 60s and 70s. We appeal to a very broad demographic because there is something here for anybody interested in recycling, playing outdoors and being green.”
Conscious of the health of the planet, Ms. Peterson tells me a bit of her reasons to go green and reuse old gear. “I simply think there’s too much manufactured stuff on the planet as there is. There is too much carbon footprint from shipping it all over here from China brand new. I think it’s unneces- sary. There’s high quality gear that for a myriad of reasons someone is ready to let go of, whether if it’s the wrong size, they can’t return it, or it’s a sport they’re no longer into. So it’s by being here and in the consciousness of the community I believe I’ve kept a lot of stuff, not only out of the landfill, but reduced all the way back to manufacturing and lowering the carbon foot print to recycle it here locally.”
Ms. Peterson feels it’s important to shop local. “I’m on the board of the Flagstaff Independent Business Alliance, so I’ve learned a whole lot about the impact of supporting small, lo- cally owned businesses for the community. It really helps the vitality of all of us to stay local and not ship the majority of our money to some corporate headquarters across the na- tion, but to keep it right here so that we can raise our families, feed our children and have our local, extracurricular activities because we can afford to live here. If we support small busi- nesses, we are also supporting our neighbors and friends.”
Recently, Flagstaff Sports Exchange has received some good news. “I applied for and got granted a five thousand dollar microloan called Dollars for Dreams in which they help small, local businesses with small microloans get to where they can employ more people and provide more jobs in the community. I’ve got a three-prong proposal that I’m going to use the money for. I’m going to improve my signage and lighting, because a lot of people don’t see my signage as adequate. I’m going to hire an IT intern from Northern Ari- zona University to oversee all my social media and do some more with our internet presence and I’m going to have some demos of Pedegos, a company that makes electric bikes, and have some of the newest models on my showroom floor, be- cause I’m the only dealer for Pedego in Northern Arizona. The cash flow hasn’t allowed me to have a lot of showroom bikes. So that’s what I’m going to do with my microloan. I’m excited because I think we’ll improve our cash flow and be able to hire more people.”
We walk over to a selection of bikes in the middle of the store, and Ms. Peterson shows me one of the Pedegos. Placing
a throttle like a motorcycle, the Pedego makes hardly any sound at all as the back wheel spins. It’s an attractive bike. If I had more faith in drivers passing through downtown I might have taken her up on the offer to take this Cadil- lac of bicycles out for a spin. Having a bicycle with a mo- tor seems like it would make biking around Flagstaff a lot easier going, especially with the climb up Hospital Hill.
Flagstaff Sports Exchange invites interested custom- ers to order a Pedego catalog from their website, and can help customers find a bike that is suited to their individual needs. Pedego bikes run on an eco-friendly battery last- ing approximately 3-5 years and 500-1,000 charges which would be an estimated equivalent of 10,000 to 20,000 miles of travel. Flagstaff Sports Exchange also rents Pe- dego bikes by the hour.
Flagstaff is a great place for outdoor sports in the au- tumn, and Flagstaff Sports Exchange sees all kinds of out- door gear move through the inventory, and is also a great place to check when you are considering buying new gear or trying a winter sport.
“I want to let people know that I have a really large selec- tion of winter sports gear. Snowboards, skis, cross country skis, snow shoes, down outerwear and fleece and other layers, and I have some snow boots,” Ms. Peterson says. Ms. Peterson leads me down a staircase to the sporting good overflow section. Helmets, uniforms and ski boots fill the space, and even further back there is a hidden door that opens to a dirt floor cellar where the extra snow shoes, snowboards and skis wait to adventure again.
Flagstaff Sports Exchange allows customers to trade in their in-demand, quality and clean gear and equipment for store credit. Representatives are available at the store during regular business hours to evaluate the value of your trade, but Flagstaff Sports Exchange does recom- mend taking a look around the store to see if the gear you have is something that would fit. If you’re not sure, you can always ask. When you do bring in gear it should be cleaned and functioning properly. The better condition the gear is in the more trade it will be worth.
Flagstaff Sports Exchange is located at 19 W. Aspen, right next door to the Orpheum Theater on the corner of Aspen and Beaver Street. Store hours are Monday through Saturday 10AM to 6PM and Sundays 10AM to 5PM. 928/853-2414. FlagstaffUsedSports.com
| Clair Anna Rose welcomes new sports.
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