Outdoor Insight

WAYWARD COLLECTIVE 40 • Outdoor Insight • July 2018 outdoorinsightmag.com to keep you alive for one-one thousandth of the time you're out." Brands like Carhartt, Pendleton, Norse Projects, Yeti and Red Wing Heritage that can exist comfortably in the wild as well as on-the-go have been winners. But where Wayward has truly seen success, Winkel says, is in stocking smaller, more under- the-radar brands like women's moto brand Atwyld and sunglass line Raen. "We see a lot of success in unique brands versus mainstream brands," Winkel says. "Which was interesting. We thought well- known brands with high demand would be volume drivers, and they're not. They do well, but they're not our bread-and-butter." That mix is tweaked for each of the retail- er's three stores, Winkel says — the store in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood focuses more heavily on urban exploration and travel, for example — and that the bal- ance flows seasonally as well: Seattle does a bigger outdoor business in May, June and July, and then sees the craftsmanship and music side swell after that. Over the course of the first year, footwear, apparel and gear each accounted for approximately a quarter of the store's overall business, with bags and seasonal goods making up the balance. And while the brand has a robust e-tail footprint, brick and mortar is the whole lot of outdoor shops want to fill your gear needs. Wayward, the three-store boutique outdoor chain that opened last spring in Seattle, Chicago and Bellevue, WA, has a different aim. "We want to serve people who are looking for self-ac- tualization," GM and founder Kevin Winkel says. "People who want to live their best lives and be their best person. The type of person who feels their time on earth is kind of precious." Winkel, the former director of marketing for youth skate and surf chain Zumiez and an action-sports industry veteran, says Wayward's business is built on two pil- lars — adventure travel (especially urban adventure and city exploration) and creative culture (photography, music, art). In keeping with that ethos, the brand mix puts a premium on versatile, travel-friendly gear — not on Everest-level equipment. That mix, he says, "opens us up a little more with brands we carry and people we partner with." "We're not trying to have the gear for the people who are at a very high level of skill," Winkel continues. "We want functional, quality stuff, not gear that is going to have SOME OF THE BEST PARTS OF LIFE ARE THE CONNECTIONS YOU HAVE WITH HUMANS, AND YOU LOSE THAT IN A PURE-PLAY E-COMMERCE BUSINESS." THE GREAT 8 point, Winkel says. "The way the shopper shops today, they don't think about channels. And they want to have tangible product to feel," he says. "Some of the best parts of life are the connections you have with humans, and you lose that in a pure-play e-commerce business. For that ability to serve different customers in different locations, brick and mortar is super critical." Opening three stores within weeks of each other takes resources. Winkel says Wayward is backed by a group of manu- facturing and retail brands that allowed the group to fund the initial three-store opening that let them simultaneously experiment with neighborhood (Chicago), urban (Seattle) and mall-based locations (Bellevue.). (Winkel's previous employer Zumiez is listed as the copyright holder of the Wayward Collective name. Winkel says that while the firm has helped with estab- lishing the stores, the venture is separate.) As Wayward looks to its second year, fine-tuning the formula is top of mind. "We're looking at potential growth, but let's try and figure out what we can do here and be more efficient in our goals," he says. "Right now we're focusing and trying to continue to improve it and listen to feedback and adjust and evolve."O A WAYWARD COLLECTIVE FOUNDED: 2017 LOCATED: Three stores: Chicago; Seattle; Bellevue, WA. NOTABLE: Key brands include Carhartt, Cotopaxi, Filson, Fjällräven, Iron & Resin, Karhu, Mollusk, Norse Projects, Patagonia, Red Wing Heritage, Roark, Topo Designs and Yeti. WEBSITE: waywardcollective.com OFF THE BEATEN PATH Taking a Boutique Approach to Outdoor Retail. / By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry

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