The Daily - August 12,2021 - 54

Summer Show 2021
S H O W N E W S
New Kid on
The Block
The owners of the country's first Blackowned
gear shop are looking for ways to collaborate
and uplift underrepresented voices
in the outdoor community. By Latria Graham
" THIS IS ALL A LITTLE OVERwhelming, "
Jahmicah Dawes, the
owner of Slim Pickins Outfitters
in Stephensville, Texas, (and newly
minted Inspiration Award winner)
says breathlessly, watching
people stream into the halls of the
Colorado Convention Center. It's
8:38 a.m. on Day 2 of the Show,
and in the 200 yards between
the Big Blue Bear and the coffee
kiosk, he's already been stopped by
well-wishers three times. Dressed
in a mustard-colored cardigan and
lavender kicks, he is easy to spot in
the sea of plaid button downs.
" This reminds me of the first time
I walked into a fly-fishing shop, "
he says. " I thought to myself, 'do I
belong here? Is this accessible for
me?' " He looks around-at the wellstaffed,
brightly colored booths filled
with new gear and the rows of tents
neatly lined up on the show floor,
a little unsure of how to take in his
surroundings. " That's why representation
matters-I want to be able to
at least picture myself in a place. "
It is Dawes' first time at the Show,
and while Outdoor Retailer is a
slimmed down version of its 2019 self,
there's still plenty to do and see, and
he spent much of Day 1 going to education
sessions, wandering through
the booths, and learning about new
gear coming to market. " I knew about
Outdoor Retailer because reps that
come into the store would talk about
it, but it always seemed like a place I
would never get to, " he says.
Dawes and his wife, Heather,
opened Slim Pickins Outfitters in
54
2017 with the hopes of diversifying
the outdoors in their region and
creating a space in their small town
where people felt welcome and could
learn more about the natural world
around them. When they opened
their shop, they made history: It was
the first Black-owned outdoor shop
in America. For four years they've
navigated the perils of retail by sticking
to the shop's guiding principles:
act justly, love kindly, serve humbly.
There were times it seemed perhaps
that wasn't enough-learning
the ropes of retail meant that some
days they were just getting by: " People
often ask Heather about our five-year
plan for the shop, and she's quick to
tell them, 'Look, we have a five-day
plan right now. We're hoping that we
don't have to close in five days. "
The pandemic revealed numerous
structural inequalities plaguing the
country. Black-owned businesses
were less likely to handle mandated
closures due to lack of access to
financial relief, and nearly half of
Black small businesses closed permanently
in 2020. After the protests
that took place during the summer
of 2020, many organizations say
they're committing to creating
change and promoting equality,
but major barriers to accessing
capital and credit for Black- and
Latinx-owned businesses still exist.
(Banks had been less than hospitable
to the couple, which meant opening
credit with gear makers was a
challenge-they wanted to know
they were underwritten by a larger
financial institution. " It felt like we
/ OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER 2021
Jahmicah
Dawes
were going in a circle, " he says.)
The COVID-19 pandemic brought
new challenges for the already
weary couple, and the pair made
a choice: to be honest with their
community and ask for a little help.
People around the world responded.
The result was a GoFundMe that
raised over $172,000 dollars, and a
15-minute documentary produced
in partnership with the Outbound
Collective and the film production
company Wondercamp.
The community support has been
consistent, but the response from
industry has been uneven. " So many
of these brands that were posting
black squares last year reached
out wanting to work with us under
constraints that didn't make sense
for our business, " says Dawes. " They
don't understand the challenges we
face, and once the moment was over,
so were lots of the offers of support.
We're still working on figuring out
what needs are so that we're around
for a long time. Sustainability is the
sexy word of our age in this industry.
Why wouldn't you apply those same
principles of extended, enduring
incremental change to other critical
issues in this arena? "
The Dawes' hopes for the shop,
and for the industry, stretch far beyond
the sepia-colored doors of their
Texas-based outfit. Slim Pickins
might be the first Black-owned gear
shop in the country, but now it's not
the only one, and that brings them
great joy. This journey has brought
fellow Black shop owners like
Mark Boles of Intrinsic Provisions
in Hingham, Massachusetts, and
Mandela Echefu, of Wheelzup Adventures,
a brand-new Black-owned
gear shop in western Maryland, into
their circle. When the Show is over,
they'll talk about the pros and cons
of attending, and share information
about how they were treated and
what they learned from information
sessions. They'll discuss whether
the outdoor industry is still getting
by on quick fixes to the diversity
and inclusion problem, or if there's
a desire to pursue the long arc of
sustainable change.
There's a long way to go-for
Slim Pickins and for the long-term
goals that Dawes hopes the outdoor
industry will take seriously. But
right now, Dawes is mulling over one
thing: What it will be like to attend
the Winter Show in 2022?
Photograph by Carlo Nasisse
The Daily - August 12,2021

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