OB Retail Profile: Adventure 16

2006 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Sold Out

When a group of engineers began shooting 16mm film in an effort to produce adventure movies of their Boy Scout sons hiking and backpacking through Southern California in the 1960s, it is unlikely they realized that the code name "Adventure 16" would, 44 years later, pertain to one of the most authentic outdoor specialists in the country.

Combined with an interest and proficiency in redesigning outdoor gear?specifically, backpacks that redistributed weight from shoulders to hips?this fellowship of pioneers unknowingly established the premise and groundwork for a renowned retail business.

That initial rendition of adventure travel combined with the design and development of outdoor gear grew from a garage operation in La Mesa, CA, into a Southern California specialty retail chain. Today, Adventure 16 is regarded as one of the premier experts in the outdoor industry, maintaining its repute in one of the most competitive retail markets in the country.

"Building a decent brand means something," says John Mead, president of Adventure 16, whose uncle, Mic Mead, recapitalized the fledgling business in 1970, eventually becoming the principle owner. At present, Adventure 16 operates seven stores, including its most recent door that opened in Torrance last December. "It has taken us all these years to have stores about 20 to 30 minutes away from each other, from San Diego up to the San Fernando Valley," notes Mead.

The enterprise is now a $20 million business and Mead?an accomplished outdoorsman himself?projects sales of nearly $21 million in 2007. Like the final steps of a Mount Rainier climb, Mead prefers a measured, calculated ascension rather than rapid, less-controlled gains. Although Adventure 16 has had some "tough years," relates Mead, 49, the company has remained "consistently profitable" during the past 36 years.

And it is succeeding with the rather unique financial structure (for a specialty retailer) of operating as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), a buyout from Mic Mead that was completed in 2001. That tenet of personal accountability?originally infused into Adventure 16 by Mic Mead and continued by John Mead?helps this specialist excel.

"Adventure 16 has kept true to its roots," offers Mike Wallenfels, president of Mountain Hardwear, one of the retailer's premier vendors and a former Adventure 16 employee from 1984 through 1991. "I see specialty shops all over the country and some are so focused on the high-end consumer that they can alienate [other] customers who walk into the store. Adventure 16 embraces customers in a user-friendly and