Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020 - 34

IDEAS

James Kwon

Each issue we speak to key employees who work behind the counters
and in the aisles at successful retailers in order to find out what it
takes to turn a great shop into a neighborhood institution.
by Cameron Martindell
COLLEGE BUDDIES DO MORE THAN GET YOU
"They took a chance on me since I didn't have
much of an outdoor resume-but I did have a
stupid drunk and leave you naked in a 7-Eleven
lot of enthusiasm."
parking lot. James Kwon's college buddies
That passion paid off. Kwon has worked at
opened his eyes to outdoor recreation and adseveral outdoor retailers including a stint at a
venture. Going to school in northern Minnesota
ski shop in New Zealand. In 2006 he started
near Lake Superior, Kwon cut his teeth on day
as a part-time sales associate at Minneapolis'
jaunts along the Superior Hiking Trail (he was
Midwest Mountaineering. He soon moved up
an English major and had the romantic notion
the ranks, becoming a department coordinathat hiking would be a good source of inspirator. In 2014, after a five-month world travel hition). His first backpacking trip with friends in
atus, he returned to Midwest Mountaineering
the Porcupine Mountains really set the hook. All
as an apparel buyer.
these experiences stood in stark contrast to his
"Besides being an excellent buyer, James is
upbringing in a family that never went camping
on our management team, which meets every
or spent much time outdoors.
other week, making decisions on how to run
It was also while Kwon was in college that
the company," says Rod Johnson, the ownhe felt drawn to work in a small specialty outer and founder of Midwest
door apparel and gear shop.
Mountaineering, which celHe had been working in a
ebrates its 50th anniversary
bookstore but kept stopping
James Kwon, 43
in 2020.
by the gear shop nearby to
Shop: Midwest
One of Kwon's most sucdream about his next advenMountaineering
cessful ideas for the store is the
ture and all the possibilities he Location: Minneapolis,
"Schedule an Appointment
saw in the gear hanging in the
Minnesota
with a Store Guide" program.
windows. "I went there practi- Role: Apparel Buyer
It gives customers with specally every day," Kwon says.
Experience: 13 years

34 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Winter 2020

WORDS OF WISDOM

Advice for new shop employees?

Listen and help people go on their
dream trips. Really, we are like
adventure nutritionists.
What ambitions do you have for the future?

I want to get my daughter on trips
to help inspire a lifelong love of the
outdoors.

Courtesy James Kwon

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

cific trip questions, needs, and/or a gear list
the chance to connect with a sales associate
who has been to the same area, undertaken
a similar trip, or has specific experience in
that activity. The guide ushers the customer
through the store to answer questions and address specific needs.
It was a big thrill when Kwon got an on-air
callout after outfitting a popular Minneapolis
radio host for a Nordic skiing trip, but the
most significant customer connection he's
made was helping a woman prepare for a
year-long overseas adventure. She came in a
number of times-to purchase rain gear and
a head lamp, to get a pack fitted, and finally to
ask Kwon out.
"We dated for just a handful of weeks but
stayed in touch not knowing what the future
would hold," Kwon says. "After six months
of calls, texts, and emails, I took the leap and
traveled to Ecuador to join her. We've been
together ever since." That was eight years ago
and now he and Nellie have been married for
three years and have a year-old daughter.
The key to Kwon's success? He asks his customers lots of question, listens closely, and
tries to avoid over-explaining. "Getting ready
for a trip can be stressful," he says. "And I have
sweated over gear lists for my own trips over
the years. Knowing this, I try to make the process super easy, fun, and the least stressful as
possible for our customers."
Kwon believes the best interactions come
when those he has helped return to the store to
share their experiences. "I really love it when
a customer exclaims they just had the time of
their life on a trip and that our interaction in
the store helped out. There aren't many jobs
out there that give that kind of feedback." O.R.

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020

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