Patagonia Synchilla Marsupial
It is nice to see that Travel and Leisure magazine likes the Patagonia Synchilla Marsupial as much as we do. It’s one my ”never leave home without it” items. Having debuted in the 90’s the Patagonia marsupial is still a must have for any outdoor adventurer.
What essential outdoor gear do you never leave home without?
We’ve interviewed CEOs, athletes and adventurers…now it’s time to take a look at the other side of Retail, the Reps that complete the cycle. Jerry and Lois Horton have been involved in the Outdoor Industry for over 20 years and are currently representing nine different lines.
Never leave home without your Chacos!
Jerry and Lois Horton have a total 25 pairs of Chacos between the two of them and have nothing but wonderful comments to say about them…and it’s not just because they are Reps for Chaco, but because they are passionate about quality and the outdoors.
The Hortons have been involved with the Outdoor Industry for over 20 years. What began as a paycheck to support climbing, skiing, fly fishing and cycling, has now evolved into representing the brands that they love.
Jerry started working for Marmot in their retail store, but when the company was moved to California he decided to stay in New Mexico. Jerry has been involved in all aspects of the outdoor industry, from manufacturing and designing to representing vendors and managing retail stores, including Backwoods.
Jerry met his future wife, Lois, while working for an outdoor retailer. Lois was shopping for a kayak and he was happy to assist…they’ve been married for 28 years and now, they are both reps for the same vendors. “We are passionate about the outdoors, which is why we enjoy what we do” says Lois.
They have seen it all, from hippie backpackers following their passion to large corporations that lost their focus. Overall they love the life of representing lines that we carry at Backwoods.
The life of a rep has many perks…traveling, first access to new and exciting products, flexibility, meeting new people that share the same passion…its perfect! However, what we don’t see is that it is a tough job; you have to be able to survive on being paid only when retailers pay their invoices, meeting tight deadlines with no guarantees, having several bosses and living on the road for several weeks throughout the year.
“There isn’t a job description for being a Rep…we make it up as we go along. It’s a hard job, but we like it,” says Jerry.
The Hortons cover Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Nebraska, which is typically the Midwest zone set by Vendors.
Reps plan about a year in advance, in November and December they show product lines to retailers for the following fall, in February the orders are due from retailers and then in March and April they are traveling to educate/clinic the retail staff on their products. Then in May it starts all over again with the spring lines.
The Hortons have noticed that throughout the years the Outdoor Industry has developed two sides – companies, like Backwoods, that have remained true to their roots and passion and then the opposite, companies that focus on mergers and acquisitions, forgetting about the trickle down effect and are often ran by people that aren’t the outdoorsy type.
“Our Goal is to have fun, sell fun and work with people we like” says Lois. “We have the luxury of picking the people and companies that we work for and it makes a difference at the end of the day.”
“It has been exciting to watch the evolution and growth of Backwoods” says Jerry. “I’ve known Jennifer Mull (Backwoods CEO) since she was eight years old.”
“We love Backwoods and truly enjoy the people. It’s easy to see that Backwoods has a passion for the outdoors, beginning with the CEO and ending with the store staff. There should be more retailers with the same philosophy.”