Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020 - 42

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Clockwise from top: Scott
Barkley bonds with a
customer in the bike
department. Floor manager
Virginia Farley flashes a smile
at the Loss Prevention
Station and Manager Zone.
Blue chills in the employee
area. Mel McNell kisses the
Rainbow Pony, a trophy
given to staff for "suboptimal
decision making while under
the influence of nothing."
She hasn't won it yet but is
"working hard on it."

shop's physical plant guru, used his to add electricity to his off-the-grid house. Others have
used it to buy land, to make a down payment
on a home, or to pay for childcare. Jessiman has
planned his sabbatical, too: a self-supported
sea-kayaking expedition in Iceland with his

42 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Winter 2020

daughter. "Having the ability to drop out of existence for three months and know you're coming back to your job is huge," he says.
At the shop, I meet Aaron August, a ski and
bike tech and the shop's demo fleet coordinator. He's leaning against the counter munching
on a double egg, ham, and cheese sandwich, a
pencil sticking out of his loosely coiffed blond
man-bun. August's Living the Dream idea is
to powder ski in Japan. Until then, he's getting
out locally. "It's a super supportive environment
here. I needed five days to do this crazy bikepacking trip, and it was no problem," he says. "Mike,
he eggs you on to get outside."
Sherman and Donohue have tried to foster

a sense of community at OGE. Employees often find an instant friend group of like-minded
folks. "People are stoked about adventure and
gear. You send out an email saying, 'I'm going to
hike Mount Mansfield.' Next thing, you've got 10
people meeting you at the trailhead," says Chris
Reamer, OGE's camping and packs department head. "Honestly, I don't have any friends
outside the shop." Reamer first came to Vermont
to hike the Long Trail, having already bagged
the Appalachian Trail (lugging a 25-year-old,
53-pound Dana Designs pack). "I stumbled
into OGE mid-hike to get new socks and shorts,
and I was blown away by the selection of packs
and shoes."
Reamer had worked at Eastern Mountain
Sports in Delaware. "I went from a shop with 10
shoes to having a wall with 150." Today OGE has
582 backpacks, 54 skis, 261 snowboards, and
118 different bikes. Consignment, samples, discounts, and closeouts still represent half of what
the shop sells, but they also have brand-new gear
and demos, and they sell online, too.
The sense of community that's baked into the
shop's ethos has led to organic workplace bonding that extends beyond OGE. The employees
organized the popular Moons Out Goons Out
event. On full moon nights, they ride the bike
path along the Colchester Causeway, which runs
three miles into Lake Champlain. It's a potluck.
Somebody brings the cheese and sausage plate,
and cases of PBR are not uncommon. Another
ad hoc group is affectionately known as the
Outdoor Queer Exchange. "It's just grown organically," explains McNell. "It's awesome."
Donohue and Sherman admit that there is
work to be done in the area of diversity, especially at the leadership level. Upper management
still reflects the whiteness and maleness of the
outdoor industry itself. But they are moving in
the right direction. "It's definitely an inclusive
environment. I'm queer, and I feel super welcome," McNell says. The shop also has (and has
had) trans employees, and the staff bathrooms
are non-binary.
Employees also bond during retreats, service
days, and demos. OGE pays employees for two
service days to volunteer in the community. All
employees (even fulfillment, IT, and warranty)
are paid to attend two gear demos a year (salespeople go to more). And OGE hosts three to four
paid staff retreats a year, two full-shop and one to
two by department. Retreats have included hiking Camel's Hump and bouldering at Smugglers
Notch. They've had water-balloon catapult
building, log-rolling, and "feats of strength"

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020

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