A major outdoor gear site sued this small Boise business in 2018. Now they’re partners.
Eighteen months after the two settled a lawsuit, a local store has partnered with an outdoor retail website to bring more gear to Boise.
Backcountry.com, a popular online gear store, announced in a Facebook post on Sunday that it would work with Boise Gear Collective to boost the small business’s inventory of consignment items. The move comes more than a year after the two companies settled a dispute in court over Boise Gear Collective’s previous name, Backcountry Pursuit.
Boise Gear Collective owner Tyson Stellrecht announced the partnership on his store’s website Monday morning.
Outdoor enthusiasts threatened to #BoycottBackcountry earlier this month after the Colorado Sun reported that the Utah-based company had sued multiple small business across the country over trademarks on the word “backcountry.” Since then, the company’s CEO has issued an apology, and the company announced on Nov. 15 that it would also partner with Backcountry Babes, a women’s outdoor leadership organization.
According to the Colorado Sun, Backcountry.com sued Constellation Outdoor Education, Backcountry Babes’ parent company, in July.
In its Facebook post announcing the Boise partnership, Backcountry.com didn’t mention the lawsuit, which was settled in April 2018.
“Backcountry is excited to partner with Boise Gear Collective to help increase their inventory of used gear,” Backcountry’s post read. “Sometimes when customers return gear to us, we’re not able to resell it through our site, so this partnership is a great opportunity to give this gear a second chance with a local shop, promoting a more sustainable supply chain.”
Backcountry.com did not respond to the Statesman’s request for comment.
In his post, Stellrecht said he met with Backcountry CEO Jonathan Nielsen on Nov. 15.
“He came alone and without lawyers,” Stellrecht wrote. “The experience we had was probably unlike nearly any other corporate screw-up in history. Jonathan is serious about owning this misstep and making things right.”
Stellrecht said the partnership with Backcountry is a multiyear contract for gear year-round.
“I will be heading to Salt Lake City to pick up multiple pallets of gear in just a few weeks,” he wrote. “We have given them a list of our most desired categories of gear and they are pulling together a huge load for us as we speak. The top of our list for winter is skis, ski boots, snowboards and snowshoes, among others. “
Stellrecht said the 7,000-plus consignors that currently work with Boise Gear Collective are able to supply plenty of “soft goods” such as clothing, backpacks and other accessories, but the store doesn’t have a consistent supply of “hard goods.”
“We will be focused on selling the items that were used once or twice and can no longer be sold as new on (Backcountry’s) website, but are still good as new,” Stellrecht wrote. “Just think of all the ski boots that probably got skied twice and then got returned because they just didn’t fit right. It’s going to be so much fun to open up those pallets and see all the good gear we are going to be able to offer our amazing customer base in Boise, ID.”
Stellrecht said rebranding his business in 2018 was “a huge bummer” after spending six years establishing Backcountry Pursuit locally. But the rebrand has ultimately led the store to be more successful, he said.
Around the time Stellrecht rebranded, he also doubled the size of his flagship store at 671 S. Capitol Blvd. while closing the Eagle branch of the store.
“But we also lost some of the trust from our local community and there was a ton of confusion,” Stellrecht wrote on his website. “Our customers thought we sold out to a bigger company and were no longer locally owned.
“It hurt my pride that people thought I was no longer the owner of the company that I had created from scratch,” he continued. “It has taken time, money and tons of emotional effort to move past all of this. I am grateful that this has all come out so that I can now fully share with our customers what actually happened.”
As the internet’s ire grew over the Backcountry scandal earlier this month, Stellrecht called on the company to make things right. In his Monday post, Stellrecht said his view of Backcountry changed with the visit from Nielsen.
“There have been tons of calls across the internet for Backcountry.com to make companies like mine who were affected by these trademark issues to ‘be made whole’ again,” he wrote. “I can only speak to my experience, but I would say this is the case. While they are not writing me a check up front as many have called for, this deal is better than just a check and worth more to both of our companies in the long run.”
Stellrecht said he will keep customers updated when used Backcountry items are available in the store. Stellrecht also encouraged local outdoors enthusiasts to give the company a second chance and recognize the value in both local stores and online mega-retailers.
“Instead of spending all this energy fighting each other, let’s fight for something we all believe in: protecting access to public lands and protecting our planet for future generations,” he said. “While I feel that this was a worthy cause to take up defending the little guys from the big guys, let’s refocus our energy on protecting the environment so we still have places to go use all this awesome gear we sell.”
