Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020 - 43

Feature .01
competitions. One year, they hiked to the top
of the single chair at Mad River Glen (and, naturally, built a cart to push a keg up).
"They're epic bonding experiences," says
August. But there's also work that gets done. For
the fall retreat in Bolton Valley, OGE will bring
in female execs from Vasque, Oboz, and Burton
for a panel on creating equity in the workplace.
"Providing a continual learning environment is
a way we retain staff," Sherman says.
Hiring from within is also key. Positions
evolve organically around an employee's
strength. An associate who's artistic is tasked
with painting window murals. The kid with
coding savvy ends up in IT. "We provide opportunity as employees mature in their skill
set and into higher-paying jobs," Sherman says.
"To keep people engaged, we need to find them
a path forward."
OGE periodically conducts employee surveys on benefits. "People don't like the scrutiny
of reviews and that the wage is attached to it,"
Sherman says. "So we disassociated it." It made
review time less stressful and raise time more
straightforward. OGE has also been working to
bring its minimum wage to $15 by 2022, long
before the state makes it mandatory. For salaried employees, that means $31,200. It will
take three years of graduated raises and cost
the shop $1.5 million.
And with new changes in tax laws, OGE
will soon let employees divert 401K matching funds to pay down their student loans. In
fact, because so many employees are young,
often fresh out of college, OGE implemented
a series of "adulting clinics." They cover topics
like buying a car, first-time homeownership,
401Ks, and even Lyme disease.
"Millennials want to work for a company that
has heart," Sherman says. Programs like the
OGE Charitable Foundation speak to them.
It's raised $70,000 since 2013 for conservation and land access projects. OGE gives out
grants of up to $1,500 to grassroots nonprofits for things like building bridges on mountain bike trails and purchasing climbing gear
for underserved youth. "We wanted to make a
meaningful, tangible impact," Sherman says.

lines OGE's back stairwells.
When OGE moved into the Old Navy space, it
needed to take out a five-stall Woolworth's bathroom. Donohue handed out sledge hammers
and safety goggles and let the employees smash
unsalvageable urinals. (Think "Office Space"
and the scene where frustrated computer programmers take a bat to a printer.) It was team
bonding and stress relief rolled into one. "Five
years later, employees are still talking about it,"
says Donohue.
Last year, Panera moved out and OGE expanded into that adjoining space. Sherman and
Donohue have always operated with frugality, so
they closed down the shop for four days and employees jumped in to do demolition.
"Probably a third of the people had never used
a drill before," says Jessiman, who oversaw the
project. They worked in shifts and sat in circles
eating tacos brought in for breaks.
"It was Type 2 fun-kind of sucks at the time,
but then you're glad you did it," McNell says.
"And there's a sense of ownership when you've
been a part of building something."
OGE applies the reduce, recycle, and reuse
ethic that grew out of its consignment retail
roots to any construction project. "Any time a retailer closes down, we literally dumpster dive for

fixtures and displays," Jessiman tells me. They
scavenge for mannequins, baker's shelves, and
warehouse racks. The yellow rolling ladder in
the shoe warehouse came from Macy's, and the
storage bins came from a women's lingerie store.
"We like to say, 'the casters are in the 46D drawer,'" he says.
The next morning, I stop by the shop as it's
opening up. August, the self-professed bike
nerd, is outside taking pictures of John Kratky,
a customer who's come to OGE for Dr. Bronner's
soap. Kratky is at the tail end of a five-day bike
tour of Vermont breweries. After a week on the
bike, you can imagine he needs some soap.
While his partner shops, Kratky is watching the bikes, which are tricked out with cargo
cages, stem bags, and paniers, like a high-tech
two-wheeled gypsy caravan. I ask August if
he's the store photographer. "No, I just think
this is a really cool setup!" His enthusiasm for
all things outdoors is typical of the OGE crew.
August invites Kratky to stow the bikes inside.
He wheels them in, threading through circular
racks jammed with jackets and pants. Music is
thumping, and Maggie pads past with a worn
tennis ball in her mouth. "They have everything
here," Kratky says, surveying the shop. "Look at
it. It's amazing." O.R.

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.

IN 2011, OGE MOVED TO ITS CURRENT LOCATION ON

Church Street. It's a historic spot. In 1899,
F.W. Woolworth opened up a 5 & 10 Cent Store
here. The building was rebuilt in 1964, housing
Woolworths until Old Navy and Panera took
over the space. Donohue shows me the turquoise paneling from the Woolworth days that

ORIGINAL CONCEPT
OGE launched as a
consignment shop and
that arm of the business
still operates in the
basement.

Winter 2020 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 43

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020