ASPEN — A snow-sports company here has garnered the industry’s attention by being named the Mountain Region Snow Sports Retailer of the Year for a second consecutive time.
Four-Mountain Sports and D&E Ski and Snowboard Shops last year opened several new specialty stores, including the new Alpine Retail & Demo Center, the Beginner’s Magic store, Four-Mountain Kids in Snowmass and D&E Women in Aspen. Company executives count the stores as four of the reasons they’re in the spotlight again.
SnowSports Industries America, or SIA, announced the award last week.
“It certainly speaks as a testament to the shop that, in an industry where there are 7,000 retail shops (nationally), that they were nominated once again,” said SIA spokeswoman Alicia Allen. “That their suppliers and reps took the time to nominate them again speaks to the commitment they have to the industry and being worthy of the retailer-of-the-year accolade.”
The award is based on nominations from suppliers and representatives within SIA, a national nonprofit trade association. The awards ceremony will take place in Las Vegas during the annual SIA trade show Jan. 30.
The stores, owned by Aspen Skiing Co., posted $12 million in sales last year. The retail arm of Aspen Skiing has 230 employees and 13 locations in the Aspen/Snowmass area. All of the stores offer free overnight storage, transfer of equipment to any of the four mountains, rentals, and lift and ski/board school tickets.
Of the four new stores, the 1,475-square-foot D&E Women has stolen the show in the Four-Mountain and D&E family since it opened above Aspen’s downtown D&E store in December 2006.
“It was brought about to give women a place to go and shop,” said Derek Johnson, rental/retail managing director and one of the original founders of D&E. “Get the men out of the way; women are the ones who shop.”
The original idea for the store was to go after young, aggressive females, generally in their 20s and 30s. But shoppers frequenting the store have ranged in age from 12 to 55.
The older end of the demographic came as a surprise to Johnson and the company.
“We identified a new market in doing this, the fairly affluent older woman who wants to have a young style,” Johnson said.
Before the women’s store opened, the older end of the demographic never came into the D&E stores for themselves — unless they were with their daughters.
Store “brings in the vacationers, too”
According to a National Sporting Goods Association study, 27 percent of snowboarders and 37 percent of skiers are women.
Between August 2006 and March 2007, women nationally bought 215,000 snowboard-apparel tops and bottoms, 114,810 alpine-ski units, 159,519 ski boots and 590,671 alpine-apparel tops in specialty stores, according to an SIA retail audit.
But the beauty of the D&E Women store is that it also “brings in the vacationers, too — and not just those who are looking for the outdoor experience,” said Carmen Barber, director of sales for rental/retail for Aspen Skiing Co.
D&E Women was modeled in some ways after both the Burton store for women in Whistler, British Columbia, and Outdoor Divas Boulder. But, Barber says, D&E Women has something the others don’t: as much streetwear as snow gear and apparel.
“I rented a snowboard once. Other than that, I’ve only bought girlie stuff here,” said Madelaine Eulich, 22, while shopping in the store during New Year’s week.
The store, which last month celebrated its first anniversary, has been a success by every measure except financially, Johnson said, adding that things have improved in that category so far this second year.
6,000 percent sales growth in 6 years
D&E, which opened in 1993 in Snowmass, was sold to Aspen Skiing Co. seven years ago. Aspen Skiing already owned Four-Mountain Sports shops. Johnson said the company’s sales have grown 6,000 percent in the past six years.
Streetwear came to D&E in its first year of operation. Sales that winter were high, but summer produced a stressful slump in sales, Johnson says.
“We went out in a panic and bought streetwear, jeans, T-shirts, sweat shirts, and started selling it,” he said. “We didn’t make any money, but we didn’t go out of business.”
At the time, snowboarding was proving to be more than just a sport — it was also a lifestyle. So the next time the store ordered streetclothes, it did so with that fashion in mind.
And it still works, according to Pete Anderson and his girlfriend, Annie Stuart, college students from Tennessee vacationing in Aspen over the New Year’s holiday. Stuart bought a white cotton Volcom shirt dress.
“We came in here looking at the snow jackets and stuff,” Stuart said, “and then here I am getting a dress.”
Elizabeth Aguilera: 303-954-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com
