Outdoor Insight

May 2019

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downtown with neat stuff and neat stores," says Maneval. "It is something you'd expect to see if you were traveling to Wyoming, but a lot of towns lose that because they get a mall or the town structure doesn't support the downtown or downtown gets taken up by restaurants and banks and offices. Once you lose your retail downtown you lose your retail downtown, it never really is able to come back." Powers, Maneval and their team also host several smaller runs and outdoor events, as well as gravel grinding and mountain biking events. Their expertise in the races led to them acquiring a chip timing company and they also time races all over their surround- ing region. The retail and events businesses are run separately, but the employees cross over between the two, says Maneval. "A lot of people who want to work for us love the special events that we do and that is a big part of our business. It is run as one big machine." The family business not only includes mom founding the store, but Maneval's aunt, who is a footwear buyer and Maneval's sister who handles the chip timing side of the business. The Big Horn Race team is all women. The store's focus is on running and outdoor, but the inventory is vast and not just focused on the active and outdoor market, says Maneval. "We are a small town, we have to have selec- tion," she says. "We sell tunic dresses and fashion boots and we also have backpacking and camping gear. We have paddleboards, skis, snowboards and we also have a pretty big skateboard and longboard business." Patagonia, The North Face and Marmot are among the key apparel brands at the store. And the store sells soccer "like crazy" in the spring — shinguards, socks and lots of cleats. "We offer expert, old-fashioned customer service," says Maneval. The secret to their success? "People trust us," says Maneval. "Our cus- tomers have been out there with us on the trails and at events." l 20 19 ISN'T EACH STEP CRITICAL? SORBOTHANE ® PROTECTS CRITICAL COMPONENTS FROM THE HARMFUL SHOCK & VIBRATION OF LAUNCH insoles-sorbothane.com sorbothane.com 800.838.3906 Ultra PLUS • Better Material • Better Comfort • Better Insole MADE IN USA Sorbothane_Dealer-Ads-2_r2.indd 1 1/18/19 9:39 AM May 2019 • Outdoor Insight • 29 outdoorinsightmag.com The Sport Stop / Sheridan, WY 1 Location (plus the store owner has 3 other storefronts in Sheridan, including a footwear store, a sweet shop/novelty store and a discount store) Notable: Owners Karen Powers and Michelle Maneval are also the race directors of the world-renown Bighorn Trail Run ultra running race. Quotable: "[Events] are about introducing new people to the outdoors and connecting with athletes. That's just part of being in retail." — Michelle Maneval, The Sport Stop

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