Even though I live in the Phoenix area I have been to Summit Hut in Tucson. I was saddened to hear that they were closing down in August and they had been around for 55 years . It was a great store and had everything you wanted for an outdoors/hiking person like me. Thanks for sharing this story as it is one of every small business we have in this country and I wish business was more promising. These times we are in have not been kind to many businesses and to Americans.
Here in the West, tourism and outdoor recreation are big industries in local rural economies (source: Headwaters Economics, Bozeman, among others).They also employ far more people earning good wages than do the traditional extractive industries which are now heavily automated.
But small businesses don't have the financial wherewithal to offer "bribes" to the current national administration, in the form of campaign contributions and who knows what else. Result is that the "Lords of Yesterday;" oil & gas, coal, hard rock mining, et al; get priority over use of public lands.
As a disclosure, the term "Lords of Yesterday" was created by the late Charles Wilkinson, long time professor of law at the University of Colorado / Boulder's law school and also an author of many books about Western legal & economic issues.
Great piece! I really appreciated the insights from Mr. Amos.
Is the major reason outdoor retailers are suffering because of a corrective decline in demand due to over consumption during COVID? Or, does it have more to do with negative sentiment around outdoor recreation by the current administration? Curious why there are such apparent headwinds for brands/retailers.
Wow, Wes, thanks for posting this. That piece was quite wide ranging and informative, yet succinct. Very well written and interesting.
Even though I live in the Phoenix area I have been to Summit Hut in Tucson. I was saddened to hear that they were closing down in August and they had been around for 55 years . It was a great store and had everything you wanted for an outdoors/hiking person like me. Thanks for sharing this story as it is one of every small business we have in this country and I wish business was more promising. These times we are in have not been kind to many businesses and to Americans.
Here in the West, tourism and outdoor recreation are big industries in local rural economies (source: Headwaters Economics, Bozeman, among others).They also employ far more people earning good wages than do the traditional extractive industries which are now heavily automated.
But small businesses don't have the financial wherewithal to offer "bribes" to the current national administration, in the form of campaign contributions and who knows what else. Result is that the "Lords of Yesterday;" oil & gas, coal, hard rock mining, et al; get priority over use of public lands.
Yup, got it in one. Here's a piece I wrote about just that way back in 2017: https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/opinion/its-time-outdoors-buy-its-own-politicians/
As a disclosure, the term "Lords of Yesterday" was created by the late Charles Wilkinson, long time professor of law at the University of Colorado / Boulder's law school and also an author of many books about Western legal & economic issues.
Great piece! I really appreciated the insights from Mr. Amos.
Is the major reason outdoor retailers are suffering because of a corrective decline in demand due to over consumption during COVID? Or, does it have more to do with negative sentiment around outdoor recreation by the current administration? Curious why there are such apparent headwinds for brands/retailers.