FROM TIMES PICAYUNE

So here’s what we learned last week that you can use this week:

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneBring an umbrella. If it doesn’t rain, you can always use it to second-line.

Threads:

– A hat with sturdy, wide brim shields your eyes from the rain. If wearing a baseball cap, turn it sideways over your ear to protect your cell phone on a call.

– Wear a tank top or other light, cotton shirt under the lightest-weight rain gear. It’s still hot out there.

– Look for shorts or pants that can be rolled up (capri pants, ladies!). Wet long pants and skirts are miserable. Clothes made of Gore-Tex — a waterproof fabric that breathes — are a good option.

– Find old shoes that tie or buckle, or make a fashion statement with cute, colorful rain boots. Crocs work OK, but flip-flops only seem like a good idea: When the mud sucks them off, you’ll be digging in the swamp to retrieve them. Yuck!

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneWear old shoes. Yeah, you right.

All-terrain gear:

– A water-resistant backpack is a must. Make sure your poncho is large enough to put OVER it.

– A knee-length rain poncho. You have a choice between thicker (will last longer and keep out the wind, but it’s hot) and disposable (lightweight and cooler, but it tears easily, so bring more than one). Or stuff some large lawn and leaf bags into your pack. One slit for your head on the bottom edge, and two on the sides near the corners for your arms, and you have a makeshift poncho.

– Resealable plastic bags in several sizes will keep your valuables dry. Slip a change of clothes and a small towel inside. In small resealables, put cameras, tissues and cell phones (you can text through the plastic). Also, you can use the bags for leftovers, if it doesn’t rain.

– A travel umbrella. Debate: Some would rather wear a hat or a hooded poncho to keep hands free for eating and drinking.

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Patagonia, a manufacturer and retailer of outdoor clothing that was founded by a mountain climber, plans to open its first Texas store on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin this fall.

The national retailer, which is opening a 7,000-square-foot store in the historic W.B. Smith Building, 316 Congress Ave., will be one of the only retailers of that stature to open on Congress in decades.

Ventura, Calif.-based Patagonia Inc. is accepting applications for managerial and retail associate positions.

Austin’s reputation as one of the nation’s healthiest and greenest cities made it a natural choice for a company that caters to outdoors aficionados who want eco-friendly merchandise. The company said it uses 100 percent organic cotton for all of its Patagonia-branded apparel.

Patagonia opened its 24th U.S. store in a historical building in Boulder, Colo., recently. It often opts to restore buildings rather than build new stores.

“At Patagonia, we look to open stores in cities filled with people who love the outdoors as much as we do,” Vickie Achee, Patagonia’s retail marketing manager, said in a statement.

Congress Avenue was once Austin’s top retail address, but it has lost all but a few retailers over the years.

The city has poured resources into building up the Second Street retail district west of Congress, but rebuilding Congress has been a slower process, mainly because there are about 80 different property, business and store owners, said Molly Alexander, associate director of the Downtown Austin Alliance, which helps match building owners with potential tenants to expand downtown’s retail mix.

Many of the storefronts have been converted into offices, bank lobbies, fast- and full-service restaurants, and bars, leaving just 11 retailers (not counting restaurants and bars) from the Capitol to Cesar Chavez Street, Alexander said. The alliance, a coalition of business and property owners, helped attract Patagonia.

Alexander said Austin was on Patagonia’s radar when she made the first call to the company in October 2006. A retail consultant had identified Patagonia as one of five national retailers that would be a good fit for downtown.

“We’ve been very successful bringing in local retailers,” Alexander said. “We knew that the national piece was critical, and it was critical to get the right ones.”

In July, a Patagonia representative and an architect checked out historical buildings on Congress and later zeroed in on the Smith building owned by Clarke Heidrick and others, she said. A lease deal was made final last month.

“They are a great company with a long history of quality and commitment to the environment,” Heidrick said. “And they will really add to downtown.”

Built in 1884, the building first housed W.B. Smith’s dry goods store. Later, it was home to ventures including a candy manufacturing business and the Vulcan Gas Co.’s psychedelic rock emporium in the late 1960s, Alexander said.

Alexander said Patagonia “will help Congress move forward to become the major shopping destination downtown.”

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Massey’s Professional Outfitters, a local company that sells hiking and skiing equipment, will open a store and warehouse in an old brick building on Carrollton next month. The former Robert’s Fresh Market at Carrollton and Canal, battered and empty since the storm, will be torn down and replaced with a new Robert’s and a Walgreens.

Next week, a developer from New York will approach a city board about his plans to rebuild the Carrollton Shopping Center, a strip mall whose demolition after the storm left a major chink in the cityscape. Jeffrey Feil plans to replace the buildings with 200,000 square feet of retail space that will hold a bookstore, pet store, office supply store and other national retail tenants.

Nike store planned

Even the building that houses Rock ‘n’ Bowl emerged from the Katrina chrysalis looking a lot more sleek.

Blancher tolerated the building’s timeworn appearance before the storm, a look that appealed to the local music crowd that has always valued shabbiness over shine. But a group of developers bought the building from its longtime owners, the Salmen family, in 2006 and performed a major renovation, painting it with green trim, resurfacing the parking lot and planting shrubbery.

Nike plans to open a 9,000-square foot “community store” there next month, so called because it is modeled after shops in Portland, Ore., and Chicago that offer internships to students and give annual grants to youth sports programs. Developer Clark Heebe said a national appliance and electronics store and a restaurant are looking at the building as well.

“There is a lot of opportunity in Mid-City,” Heebe said. “Just look around at all the rooftops in the area. People have come back.”

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Rochester, NY (PRWEB) March 26, 2008 — Ecommerce solution provider UniteU Technologies congratulates five of their customers who have been named to Outdoor Business magazine’s 2007 list of the Top 25 Independent Outdoor Specialty Retailers.

The five merchants include Neptunemountaineering.com and Outdoordivas.com, both based in Boulder, CO, Trailblazerdirect.com of Guilford, CT, Halfmoonoutfitters.com of North Charleston, SC and Metairie, LA based retailer Massey’s Professional Outfitters who has five websites with UniteU that include, MasseysOutfitters.com; TheFlipFlopper.com, 800-SKI-SHOP.com and WeGotYourPack.com.

Outdoor Business magazine honors those retailers who “reflect the best practices in selling outdoor apparel and equipment, and participate in leadership roles in local, regional and national environmental initiatives.” Their methodology for choosing the Top 25 honorees is “based on the Outdoor Business editorial staff’s thorough review and analysis of outdoor specialty retailers, as well as input from Outdoor industry organizations, analysts, vendors, sales representatives and retailers.” The Top 25 clearly understand that industry growth comes from reaching out to their own communities and introducing new people to the thrills of camping, hiking, paddling, climbing, snow sports and other outdoor pursuits. These 25 retailers embody the best of the Outdoor industry.

From Neptune Mountaineering’s Accounting Manager, Roland Fortin, “It’s our 35th anniversary this year and we are very excited to be a part of the industry’s top 25, and to have our new web store humming along for the 2008 season. The UniteU team has been great to work with. The build and launch phases were seamless processes. The ecommerce integration between UniteU and our Retail Pro POS makes updating our web store a breeze. UniteU’s staff took the time to show us the details of running our eStore. This has been a lot of work, but also fun and very educational. Before launching our web store with UniteU we knew nothing about running an ecommerce site. We have applied the training from UniteU and have had an amazing amount of success even before implementing our web marketing plan.”

Massey’s comes home to New Orleans and restores a century old building in a flooded neighborhood

New Orleans, La. April 10, 2008- Massey’s Professional Outfitters is proud to announce the grand opening of their fourth location, in the heart of Katrina-savaged New Orleans.

The store is in a restored 1907 warehouse originally called the Riley Building, a printer and distributor of text books in the early 20th century. The 28,000 sq/ft building sat vacant since it was abandoned and flooded under 4’ of water during Katrina.

Massey’s picked the location based on the need for additional warehouse space and the proximity to New Orleans’ only inner-city recreational areas; Bayou St John and City Park. The newly restored streetcar line, passing directly in front of the store, also was the main priority for office, warehouse, and retail staff. “Our staff can walk less than 100 feet to the streetcar and be in the French Quarter in 10 minutes.” says Eddie Gianelloni, New Orleans store manager.

It is also notable that tourists, not in short supply in New Orleans, can also take the same scenic streetcar ride from the French Quarter to the new Massey’s location for a quick gear purchase and on to City Park, the New Orleans Museum of Art, or paddling on Bayou St John. Massey’s will rent boats for use on Bayou St John.

A fringe benefit for the new location is 15,000 sq/ft of upstairs warehouse space, accessible by freight elevator. “New Orleans is a land-locked city and sprawling warehouse space is a poor use of land. Finding the perfect configuration was really fortuitous.” says Bobby Johnson, partner.

The building itself was restored mostly by Massey’s staff members. The goal was not to erase the century-old façade and interior, but to restore it to the original state. After removing almost all of the interior walls and layers of drywall and plaster from the building’s structural interior, the building is left in a state that’s as close to the original state as it has been in 75 years. “90% of what we did was restoration. There were virtually zero new materials used in the building. We even built half of the display fixtures in an on site fabrication / welding shop.” says Mike Massey, 3rd generation owner.

For more information on Massey’s contact Mike Massey at 504-717-9540 or mike.massey@masseys.net.  

Massey’s Professional Outfitters was founded in 1972 and specializes in full service outfitting for all types of adventure travel. Massey’s is based in New Orleans and operates 4 Louisiana locations, each stocked with an unrivalled selection of gear and clothing for skiing, snowboarding, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, and world travel. Our professional staff, which consists almost entirely of outdoor enthusiasts, has outfitted tens of thousands of customers over the course of three generations. The philosophy to sell only the highest quality merchandise from top manufacturers and consistently provide first class service to everyone has earned a loyal following that continues to grow daily. Visit us online at www.masseysoutfitters.com. Locations include New Orleans, Metairie, Baton Rouge and Covington.

‘Footprint Chronicles’ site offers an interactive guide

By Stephanie Hoops (Contact)
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Photos by Rob Varela / Star staff R.J. Hosking, Patagonia quality analyst, and fit specialist Kena Gonzalez check the company’s R4 fleece jackets on the shelves at the Great Pacific Ironworks store in Ventura.

Not many companies would advertise the “bad” that comes from producing its goods, but Patagonia Inc. in Ventura is doing just that.

On Patagonia’s “Footprint Chronicles” Web site, there is an interactive guide that shows the company’s carbon footprint in getting garments, such as the synchilla vest, to market.

It showcases the good, the “synchilla vest is recyclable,” as well as the bad, “truck travel incurs higher emissions than other transport.”

The idea is not to turn customers away from Patagonia, said Rob BonDurant, head of marketing.

“We’re by no means telling customers not to purchase our products — that’s bad for business,” he said. “Instead, we’re telling them to make an educated purchase, and encouraging them to purchase only what they need.

“Then, at the end of its useful life, after it’s worn out, we ask that they bring it back to Patagonia or a participating dealer and return it for recycling.”

The Chronicles site allows viewers to get an inside glimpse of Patagonia, complete with videos of designers in their Ventura studios discussing their ideas.

For example, designer Kourtney Morgan describes the design philosophy behind Patagonia’s synchilla vest as a “we’re-on-a-mission” soundtrack plays in the background.

“I look to nature for inspiration and my role in nature and how the garments that I make will enhance that experience for being in nature,” she said.

The Chronicles — at http://www.patagonia.com/usa/footprint/index.jsp — was recently hailed by judges during Europe’s largest sporting goods trade show.

At the Volvo EcoDesign forum last month during the ISPO trade show in Munich, Germany, Patagonia was named “EcoBrand of the Year.”

The award was created this year especially for Patagonia, for engaging in ecologically minded work like the Chronicles, its use of only organically grown cotton and its recycling program.

The company’s undertakings didn’t fall into the narrower traditional categories, which focus on such things as innovative designs, BonDurant said.

“At the end of the tallying,” he said, “the judges felt Patagonia had done so much on the forefront that they created an award for the Patagonia brand, which surprised us.”

Patagonia has worked tirelessly to minimize its impact on the environment, BonDurant said.

“The Chronicles does something that most manufacturers have yet to do,” he said, “which is documenting through video interviews the design-through-delivery process of Patagonia products.”

Last year, Patagonia’s sales topped $275 million, with 1,300 employees globally. It operates 50 retail stores and has three headquarters offices, in Ventura, Tokyo and Annecy, France, in addition to a customer service and distribution center in Reno, Nev.

FROM: MARMOTPRO.COM

Apa Sherpa, the man who has already climbed Mount Everest 16 times, and Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, who holds the fasted recorded speed ascent of the mountain, reached the summit of Everest again this morning at 8:44 AM with five other Sherpas – setting a new world-record by Apa Sherpa, who has now stood on top of the highest mountain in the world a remarkable 17 times. The all-Sherpa expedition includes team members Ang Rita Sherpa, Ang Pasang Sherpa, Pasang Gylzen, Pemba Ringee Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa and cinematographer, Dawa Sherpa. The expedition, aptly named “Super Sherpas,” has received international attention in recent weeks and is proudly sponsored by Marmot Mountain, LLC.

“This is a premier example of the kind of expedition Marmot likes to sponsor – with the quality people we want to support” explains Tom Fritz, Vice President of Marketing for Marmot. “Apa Sherpa and I have worked together many times before and it is fantastic to have helped him realize his Everest dreams – again!” adds Fritz, who sponsored the Super Sherpas team and support crew with high-altitude down clothing, storm gear, mountaineering tents and packs.

The Super Sherpas Expedition has received tremendous support in the United States by Roger Kehr and Jerry Mika, two Utah-based social entrepreneurs. The duo has made it their personal goal to spotlight the enormous contribution climbing Sherpas have made in the history of western-led Himalayan expeditions, which began with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s historical first ascent of Everest in 1953 with New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary. “We want to highlight the hidden accomplishments of the Sherpa people and their role in extreme altitude climbing,” explains Roger Kehr, Base Camp Manager of the Super Sherpas Expedition. “Without Sherpa support, one could count the number of (successful) Everest expeditions on one frostbitten hand,” he jokes.

Apa and Lhakpa have also joined forces with Kehr and Mika to form their own company – SuperSherpas™- for the purpose of bringing world enlightenment and monetary benefit to Sherpa and Nepali people. In conjunction with a forthcoming book and documentary film (already in development) the successful expedition is a way for celebrity Sherpas Apa and Lhakpa to raise money for their families and countrymen.

The proceeds from these ventures and the future speaking fees of Apa and Lhakpa will ensure their ability to not only feed their families and to provide for their education but to also enrich the Nepali people through educational and other vital programs. At least 25% of the net proceeds will be donated to Nepali schools, hospitals, and other deserving entities.

Tom Fritz, who directly through Marmot, already supports the dZi Foundation which is a non-profit organization that provides basic health care and sustainable community programs in Nepal explains, “This has been a great initiative for Marmot and we want to continue to help the Sherpa climbing community which has given so much back to western expeditions,”

We’ve moved out of major demolition on the new store and warehouse project and will start cleaning the interior out thoroughly this week. The ceilings have been repaired and the Katrina water finally pumped out of the boiler room… to be replaced with a fresh slab.

I spent the morning with our architects (Mathes Brierre) dialing in the final office configurations. I think the space will be fantastic.

Keep checking back. We’re beginning to see our fixtures delivered this week. By next week, we should begin to install mechanicals.

Here, we recognize and celebrate the passion, dedication and contributions of these independent businesses, featured in this listing of the 2007 Outdoor Business Top 25 Independent Outdoor Specialty Retailers.

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Massey’s Professional Outfitters has signed a long-term lease for a century-old North Carrollton Avenue building where it will build its fourth retail site plus a warehouse and distribution center to consolidate its growing Internet business.

The new facility will house an 8,000 sq/ft flagship store and paddling activity center, a warehouse, central receiving and distribution and large, loft-style offices.

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