Clintonville Outfitters Blog

What a great trip!

2008-08-27T15:11:07Z

I am going to start posting our home pages here as well as some other posts. Our homepage almost acts like a blog so I will post all here for everyone to follow along.

Matt and I had a very busy week out at the trade show. Four straight days of meetings, seeing new products, catching up on the latest trends, and a whole lot of walking. It takes 20 minutes to walk from one end of the show to the other, and that is not taking your time to check out the scenery. That is moving quickly while avoiding collisions with the wide eyed attendees. Enough with the details, I am sure you want to know what we found.

Coming into the store over the next 2 months are the following:Vibram Five Fingers!! These things are sweet! Describedas the barefooting alternative, theyprotect without losing feel. I couldtalk about these all day, but youjust have to come try them on tofully appreciate these shoes. Theyshould be in late September, earlyOctober. I can't wait!Cord Lock Light from black craterThese handy little lights will be in the store in a couple of weeks. This is one of those products you look at and say, I wish I had thought of that. One 3mm LED, replaceable batteries, and a bomber cord lock. Great for attaching to packs, bags, and clothing to replace that pinch light. I got one to try out and used it to read while we camped in Southern Colorado on our way home. It gave out the perfect amount of light without flooding the campsite. More to come next week!

WHAT A GREAT TRIP!

2008-08-20T16:25:19Z

Another super productive trip out to the trade show in Salt Lake City! We drove (yes drove!) out of Columbus tuesday morning and made it to western Nebraska for our first night camping right off the freeway. Wednesday found us once again in Ft. Collins, CO where we sipped fresh brews at Odell's and the New Belgum brewery before having dinner and heading north of town into the hills to search out our camp. After some temporary misplacement on the backroads we found our home for the night at an amazing campground. Pale Ales and a great fire under the stars helped us unwind before the busy days ahead.

The drive from northern CO to Salt Lake City is mostly downhill which was a good thing as the trusty Subaru we drove decided her front axles were tired and shook the car near violently the last few miles into town. Checked into our super secret hotel just south of downtown and found the local repair shop for the car. As we walked back to the hotel we found a Brazillion Steakhouse and had a feast for dinner.

Friday morning the car was fixed before the show even started and thus began two full days of nose the grindstone appointments with our main lines in the store and some new large lines just starting to trickle in. As usual the show is massive and the crowd can get thick at times as we swam through trying to make our many appointments on time.

Sunday we had a bit more breathing room to check out new products and set appointments for the closing day of the show, Monday, which we left wide open to wrap up with the new lines we want to add to the mix. Staying on top of the new and upcomming companies who are always pushing the industry foreward is the main reason we travel out to the trade show every year. There are regional shows closer to home that lack the new companies we are always seeking out. We want to keep the store fresh and always evolving which is why the big show in Salt Lake City is so important to our business platform.

Monday morning we checked out of our favorite hotel and wrapped up the show by placing orders with some real gems we found and seeing the last few companies we couldn't catch the first three days. After closing the show and having lunch at a great little deli we slipped out of town like we were never there.

Towards Boulder we headed and camped about half-way that night at an interesting campground where most of the campers seemed to be living on the grounds for an extended time. Up early on tuesday morning and made it to Boulder by early afternoon. Connected up with a brother-in-law who is working in Boulder for dinner and then the three of us headed down to Redrocks to catch Jethro Tull! What a great way to end our roadtrip. A bit of trivia for the rock fans out there: In 1971 Juthro Tull was the first rock show to happen at this beautiful music venue. A near riot broke out and the police were dropping tear gas outside the venue from helicopters! Needless to say rock shows were banned from Redrocks for the next five years. Think I am crazy? Go ahead, Google it...

After the show the sprint home began and just about 20 hours later we were home in our beds with our wives and dogs happy to have us back.

Keep an eye on the website for continuing updates about the new toys coming to a locally owned and operated outfitter near you!

UPDATE!!!

2008-06-20T00:14:21Z

May ended up being one of our best months so far, thus no blog because we were so busy!

The kayak classes are still rolling strong and the weekly free demos finally kicked off as the weather warmed. We have river access just a short ways behind our store and will be there every wednesday night as long as Mother Nature is playing nice. Come check out our superior selection found nowhere else in central Ohio. We love having kayaks in stock that you don't also see at other stores in town or even the big-box retailers. Our big kayaking trip up into Michigan has only a couple spots left before being completely booked! Check out the homepage for the skinny.

Some stories never change: Sigg continues to own the waterbottle market here even though for much of May we were out of stock of the most popular styles and sizes. Just this week we recieved a large fill-order that stocked us pretty good on all sizes except the one liter bottles, which should be here in less than a week!

There will be some new brands showing up here at the shop over summer, including: MSR, ThermaRest, Montrail, I/O Wool, Metolius as well as some real gems we are keeping quiet for the time being!

Warm Weather!

2008-04-29T17:57:01Z

Even though it's a little cool outside today, and actually sleeted yesterday, the spring/summer season is here! The store is loaded up with kayaks and related accessories. Warm weather clothing and footwear is stocking up as well as some new brands of gear and apparel. Our kayaking classes continue to sell out every month and we'll be starting the weekly free demos very soon. Keep an eye on the website for all the info.

Yesterday marks our swap to our summer hours, adding Mondays to the mix. The next couple weeks we'll be getting our summer crew up to speed so feel free to stop by and grill our new staff!

As things change some things continue to remain the same: we are having major problems keeping the Sigg and Klean Kanteen water bottles in stock and will likely sell our one-thousandth Sigg bottle this summer!

Thanks again to all our loyal customers, here's to a great summer ahead!

Second Only to a Bunch of Dick's!

2008-03-29T14:38:58Z

This week the local paper Columbus Alive put out their yearly "Best Of" edition. Every year readers vote on their favorite things/places in Columbus, from best park to best place to play pool, best live music venue to best karaoke, all sorts of fun categories. We were happy to be reading the paper Thursday night at one of our favorite haunts in town, Fat's Bar & Billiards, and found that Clintonville Outfitters was voted second best Sporting Goods Store, with the winner being Dick's Sporting Goods, who have a bunch of locations around Columbus, some of which used to be Galyan's stores. Now we aren't exactly a "sporting goods" store, but there wasn't a category for Outdoor Shops, so we will gladly take the high complement.

Not too shabby for 8 months in business! Thanks Columbus!

Wont You Wear A Sweater?

2008-03-20T01:11:30Z

March 20th is "Wont You Wear A Sweater Day" celebrating the 80th birthday of the late Mr. Rogers. Check out the YouTube link at the bottom of this post. Who doesn't remember and love the television show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood? Heard about this special day a few weeks ago and after the wave of childhood memories flew by it was decided we'd help out in our own way. Anyone who shops on March 20th and mentions any one of Mr. Rogers' world famous quotes can take 20% off a single item in the store, excluding kayaks (even though the weather right now seems to warrant having one!) Wear your favorite sweater at the same time and we'll bump the single item discount up to 25%!

Let's Make The Most Of This Beautiful Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVeyLr2fGNA

It's Spring! I mean Snow!

2008-03-08T15:13:22Z

Doesn't seem like it today but Spring is right around the corner. Had an intersting time yesterday as the snow was flying delivering a couple kayaks to a customer.

With the weather still on the wintery side we are surprised at how many kayaks we've already sold. Simply shows us how strong our paddlesports lines will perform this year and that we made an excellent decision to choose the brands we did and lock them up as the only central Ohio source for Hurricane, Heritage and Native kayaks.

This weekend marks the final days of our clearance sale to make room for the new products that are already starting to arrive. Shirts, pants, skirts and shorts from Kavu made from materials like soy, bamboo and hemp are already here (and selling!) with warm weather clothing and sun protection from Outdoor Research and Mountain Hardwear shipping this coming week as well. We also recieved our first shippment of Mion footwear, including the ever popular Pen Shell Clogs. The 5.10 trail shoe line has expanded beyond the bomber Camp Four to include new men's and women's models. We are also very happy to announce we will be adding Montrail footwear to our line-up this Spring as well!

Everyone can also keep an eye out for Smartwool, MSR, Thermarest, La Fuma and other new lines getting added to our arsenal as we continue to grow as centrail Ohio's best destination for outdoor adventure gear!

Kayaks in the Air! (literally)

2008-02-09T16:12:42Z

Kayaks are in the air, literally...

This week marks the big turn here at the store as we move from winter into spring (trust us, it's right around the corner!)

Wednesday we received our kayaks and began loading the store up! When we're fully stocked we'll have 16 differant kayaks to choose from. The portable racks really help us show them off and the store is looking quite different today compaired to yesterday.

We have a great paddle sports program laid out for this season. Clintonville Outfitters is the only place in central Ohio where you can find Hurricane, Native and Heritage and we are proud to offer these lines as they are some of the finest kayaks made today. One of the best points is you cannot find these brands at "big-box" stores as they only cater to small specialty stores such as ours. Hurricane kayaks in particular are some of the lightest most durable kayaks on the market today, the colors are crisp and detailed, so much so we sold a Santee 100LT shortly after loading it into the store!

On top of a great kayak selection we'll be loaded up with a wide selection of accessories very soon. PFDs from Astral, paddles from Bending Branches, transport systems from Thule, home storage solutions from SpareHand and other goodies galore! We can also customize a solution to fit your situation.

Keep an eye on our website as we'll be updating soon with info on our big guided multi-day kayak trip to the northern islands of Lake Huron in late August. As well as info regarding our classes, local trips and free demos.

Happy Paddling!

The Cold

2008-01-22T16:13:34Z

I realize that everyone is made up differently. Some people can eat ketchup (or catsup) straight from the bottle while some, although not many, don't eat it at all. I don't do condiments outside of a little salt and pepper or some cayenne. I leave the mustard and mayo for everyone else. So I understand that some people may not like the cold. Which is great for me as I like the cold, and everyone who doesn't, albeit not consciously, leaves it for me to enjoy.

I had an amazing walk this morning through the quiet snow dusted streets of Clintonville that led to Walhalla. As a walked the length of the ravine, I saw fresh tracks of rabbits, dogs, and other wildlife. My iPod blocked what little vehicle traffic you can hear from the surrounding streets and I didn't see another person or vehicle the whole time. Such a relaxing way to start the morning. So today is a good day and I want to thank those that don't like the cold for staying under the blankets with a good book and letting me escape in the middle of the city this morning! All that and for the rest of the day I get the satisfaction of helping those that enjoy the cold to enjoy it more comfortably AND for those that don't like it to stay as warm as possible! Until I leave tonight at 9 or so after our cooking clinic and get to go out and wind down with another walk home. Hopefully, I'll get to do it all over again tomorrow.

-Jonathan

Happy New Year

2008-01-10T22:25:26Z

Thanks to all our new and loyal customers alike for making our holiday season strong and prosperous. As expected we sold an amazing amount of Sigg waterbottles and Mion Pen Shell clogs, as well as all kinds of other goodies! Right now we are in recovery mode, restocking lots of items we sold out of during the holiday push.

With the damp and cold weather most of you may not be thinking of kayaking just yet, but we are! We have some excellent programs in store for the upcoming season. Classes. Clinics. Trips and more! We are proud to be the only source in central Ohio for Hurricane, Heritage and Native kayaks. We're also in the final stages of designing our very own full color brochure outlining all the models and accessories we'll have this season. Designed and produced completely in-house as well as printed locally, it will be a great resource for everyone looking to purchase a kayak this year. If nothing else, it will make some great reading material for the bathroom!

The elves are out and about!

2007-12-23T14:43:24Z

As we roll through these final sometimes frenzied shopping days we decided to put some of our elves to work outside the shop. The elves are flyering selected mall parking lots all around columbus with super-special coupons. Keep an eye on your windshieds, and maybe even those of other cars!

Most importantly, the crew and their dogs here at the shop want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

What a Weekend!

2007-11-27T15:28:07Z

Well we survived our first Black Friday and the preceding weekend. Traffic was heavy all weekend and our super special tiered discount was very popular, I bet we repeat that from time to time. We were paid an extra special compliment from a family who returned to our store after checking out the competition and did all their shopping with us, commenting on our friendly and inviting atmosphere that was lacking where they visited before. That's what we are striving for and love the feedback!

This week we'll be getting the store stocked back up and all the special orders customers needed placed. As predicted we sold a ton of Sigg water bottles! The Sigg bottles look to be the stocking stuffer of choice this year. We hope to be receiving yet another large fill order this week with more new styles and accessories! Also the Mion Pen Shell Clogs should be all stocked back up this week after nearly selling out over the weekend.

Many thanks to our customers, both new and loyal, for making this past weekend a great success for us!

A final note to everyone: Read Your Receipts! ;-)

Did You Know?

2007-11-15T22:30:34Z

We have a lot to brag about here at Clintonville Outfitters. Everyone already knows how easy our store is to find and how cool our dogs are. But there may be a few things that our customers don't know yet, so let the list begin:

- We are the ONLY locally owned and operated outdoor adventure store in Columbus that focuses on hiking, backpacking, climbing and paddlesports. Don't let the others fool ya! We love bragging about this one!

- We are the ONLY store in central ohio where you can find Hurricane Kayaks, the lightest plastic boats on the market today. One of the best things about Hurricane is the brand is not in big box stores like Dagger, Perception, Old Town and Wilderness Systems are. Those used to be specialty brands, but not anymore.

- We are the ONLY store in Columbus carrying a wide selection of Teva footwear. Teva's fall line of shoes and trail runners are in stock now!

- We are the ONLY store in Columbus where you can find KAVU hats, bags and clothing. If you haven't yet discovered these guys or are tired of overpriced clothing, visit www.kavu.com

-And once again: Sigg Waterbottles! Being the ONLY place in Columbus that stocks these "superior to plastic" bottles we are amazed at how many we sell. Sigg may be the most popular gift item in our store this year. Get yours now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Few Things...

2007-11-04T19:51:31Z

First off, there is a new red light camera here in Clintonville. It is at the Indianola and Cooke Rd. intersection. Stay safe and be aware.

Now on to store things. Starting Tues (Nov. 6th) all of our 2007 kayaks will be on sale. There will be a list posted on the website of the available models and their prices. This is first come first serve, so make sure to act quickly if you are interested in any of the boats. If you purchase a boat, all kayak accessories will be 15% off. Knowing Columbus, there will be more opportunities to get on the water in the next couple months.

Lastly, many people have been asking for some new Sigg styles in the store. We couldn't agree more, however, we have had a hard time getting them in due to their popularity. After 2 orders that went unfulfilled, we do have some new designs on the way that should land this coming week. After that, we should have access to even more styles come the end of the month just in time for holiday shopping.

Tuesday Night Workshops!

2007-10-24T14:34:34Z

There were a few things I kept in my back pocket all the years I worked for other people. Special and creative ideas I wanted to save for when I had my own operation. Classes and Clinics are one of those aces.

This is a small store catering to the community around us. Holding free workshops on an array of topics was greatly received from the get-go. Some of the first newspaper articles about us written months before the store actually opened highlighted this offering. So far the Tuesday night clinics have been going well, and like anything offered for free, sometimes there have been crowds and sometimes we get to head to the Kitchen Lounge for quesedilla night a bit early! By far the most popular clinic has been Cooking in the Outdoors. Many people come into the store and look at all the food we carry and wonder how they taste. This clinic satisfies their wondering by allowing them to sample the food hot out of the bag or pot. Soon a new lineup of topics will be added to the mix, so pay attention to the website!

While on the classes topic, remember that we will be offering free kayak demos as well as an introduction to kayaking class ($30 per person) all winter long. Our 2008 demo models are almost all here! We can offer these classes and demos all winter because we are good friends with a diving company here in town (Aquatic Adventures) and are able to utilize their pool. A much better option to get wet than the goose poo strewn shores of some local waterway....yuck!

So keep checking our calendar for all the new classes and clinics to come!

MATT