can do in 2016 when a can of bear spray exploded in our shop, coated our inventory, and shut us down for a month. For a while, we thought we were nished as a business. We reopened and are still here because of what our vendor and customer community did to support us. So what can you do to help your colleagues get back on their feet? If you are a vendor or manufacturer: • At the very least, proactively lengthen payment terms for all your dealers in the a ected areas. Don’t wait to be asked. Just do it, and let them know that you did. These extended terms should be for the next couple of seasons. • Consider special buying programs for dealers in the Helene zone for the next couple of seasons. • Consider proactively dis- counting invoices or for- giving them entirely in the cases of smaller retailers or balances. • Consider crediting those dealers with a portion of your
Based on your role in the industry, here are a few sugges- tions to help make a long-term di erence for the outdoor retail community in the Southeast. To achieve true recovery, people still need jobs and businesses that work. One of the long-term conse- quences of Helene is that the outdoor industry in the South- east will be on the back foot for a long time. In the short term, businesses don’t have the power to run. In the medium term, the community will have other things to do with its money besides buy hiking gear. In the long term, the economic hit to the community will make it hard to keep those business- es and jobs in place. Plus, the impact on the physical outdoor infrastructure has been severe. Many of the hiking trails and rivers are washed away or changed forever. The two real killers for those businesses and jobs are vendor bills that are due now and the lack of demand for outdoor products in communities lled with people trying to get back on their feet. Our team learned about what a sudden business closure
The storms’ impacts will be felt throughout those local communities for years, and the medium-term impacts are often severe enough that businesses and organizations won’t be around when the situation finally returns to normal.
to see if they want to move them to you. Make sure that you clear it with the brands as well, so that no one thinks you are gray-marketing products. If you are a consumer in an un- affected area and want to help: • Buy directly from indepen- dent retailers and brands based in the area hit by Helene when they are ready. • Consider buying gift cards online from retailers that o er this capability. Buy them now and give them out for the winter holidays. This creates immediate cash ow and gives the retailers time to get operations under control. • If you are not buying local, buy your holiday gifts from businesses that were hit hard. • For the next 12 months, make time to buy from retailers and brands in the Helene zone instead of from big-box stores or Amazon. Of course, other things need to happen to get everyone back on their feet. If you have other ideas, please share through your own channels or directly with Grassroots (dana@grass- rootsoutdoors.com), who can use the power of its network to share them. While most retailers and brands seem to have a way for- ward, one small, family-owned retailer got utterly wiped out. You can nd the GoFund- Me for the team at Chimney Rock, North Carolina’s Bubba O’Leary’s at bit.ly/4fzMCwW .
online sales for a speci ed period. One idea is to give a portion of an online transac- tion to the dealer closest geo- graphically to the customer. • Consider using social media to promote those dealers with targeted ad campaigns after the retailers reopen. Listing your a ected dealers and their websites on a link in brand emails is a great start. • Do whatever you can to help those businesses with their cash ow. If you are an outdoor retailer: • Give your suppliers in the a ected area some grace in delivering outstanding orders. If you can, pay your outstanding invoices with them early. • When placing preseasons or ll-ins, write all you can with those suppliers when they are ready to ship. If you choose between two brands, order from the a ected brand. • Once they open, consider calling the a ected outdoor retailers to ll special orders if they show the product as available. This is a great way to help those retailers with lowered demand move inventory. • If you have customers looking for products you don’t carry, coach your sta to suggest that the customer look to order from retailers in that region. • If you need ll-ins on products, check with your ac- quaintances in the Southeast
Black Folks Camp Too stepped up to lend a hand in relief efforts.
GRASSROOTS STORIES 23
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