Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020 - 60

GRUNGE GARAGE
"Every single person who
walks in the door is the
weirdest combo I've ever
seen and it's awesome,"
says Spencer Carson of
this Ballard store.

Give This a Spin

Selling sleeping bags and audio speakers in the same retail space
might sound like a weird mashup, but in Seattle-the outdoor
adventure playground that also spawned Jimi Hendrix and
Kurt Cobain-the mix makes sense. by Latria Graham
ITALL STARTED WHEN SPENCER CARSON'S FRIEND CALLED HIM UP ONE NIGHTASKING FOR A
favor: Would he help her navigate their local outdoor store so she could find a properly fitting
pack? Carson agreed but mentioned she might want to stop by his place to see if he had a pack
that would work for her in his garage-she could use it for free. That night when they got together,
Carson opened his garage, and 20 or so packs sat waiting. "This is better than going to a store-
you're your own store," the friend said with a laugh.
The next year Carson, 29, decided to open Turntables & Trails. He insists that his curated collection of pre-owned hiking gear and vintage audio components is not a gimmick. "The two things
connect because they both require you to break away from our normal daily lives," he says. "In having a turntable and picking a piece from your collection and putting it on it, you have to actually be
involved with your music. You're tangibly touching something, then after 25 minutes, when that
album ends, you've gotta go flip it. You are being intentional about what you're doing. The outdoors is the same way-even if it's just a hike for a couple of hours. It requires that forethought."
Receivers, amplifiers, and speakers adorn one wall of the small shop, with sleeping bags, tents,
and daypacks on the other. In the middle at child's height are boxes of Legos, Pokémon cards, and
board games. Carson's goal was to make the shop a place families could enjoy. "In our current environment, people are searching for an experience, a connection, something tangible about their

60 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Winter 2020

shopping experience. You create an opportunity where they think, 'Oh, we can go and the
kids can dig through Legos, my son or daughter can have fun, and I can browse around and
see the new backpacks and vinyl,'" Carson says.
Three years into the enterprise, Carson's
business is turning a profit, and he is focused on
solving a major challenge that he sees in the industry: Finding a way to increase wages for employees doing outstanding work. At Turntables
& Trails, the staff has to understand audio components, be able to fit gear on customers, and
feel comfortable evaluating and making an offer on items people bring in to the shop.
"It's hard to pay your employees what
they're worth for the help they give," he says.
There is one major feature he would like to
see more of in the retail sector: tipping. When
Carson set up his Square payment processing system, he left the tipping feature on, just
to see what would happen. "Customers have
tipped like, 75, 100 dollars and that's awesome
to me-I give those straight to my employees if they were working that shift. As a small
business that can make a huge difference. For
my employee who is getting paid 20 bucks an
hour, if they get a 50-dollar tip that's huge, and
they deserve it."
Communicating and collaborating with
other local businesses and local music artists continues to be key to the success of
Turntables & Trails. There's another used gear
outdoor retailer about half a mile away, and
Carson refers customers looking for something in particular to this other store all the
time-it's his way of ensuring the money stays
in the community, and the other shop is quick
to return the favor.
On certain nights Turntables & Trails
transforms into a small music venue, giving
budding performers a chance to cultivate a
fan base, and inviting the community to learn
more about what the store does during the day.
Fifteen minutes before the start of one of those
shows, a couple is thumbing through records,
another customer inquires about a cherry red
Bellari VP 130 phono preamp, and someone
wants to know more about hiking's 10 essentials. The sound of it all blending together is
music to Carson's ears. O.R.

Courtesy Spencer Carson

BREAD+BUTTER / Counter Culture

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2020

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