Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika

Ep.#82: Reynolds Outdoors: Building A Customer-First Sporting Goods Store In Opelika

• Susannah Hodges at Village Centre Press

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We sit down with Tyler Reynolds of Reynolds Outdoors to trace how a father-son idea became a trusted outdoor store in Opelika and what it takes to keep a small retail team resilient. From COVID pivots to losing key staff, Tyler shares practical lessons, personal stories, and why customer service beats price.

• origin story of Reynolds Outdoors and legacy handoff
• product range across firearms, archery, fishing, apparel, and accessories
• choosing retail after Auburn MBA and early risk-taking
• COVID challenges and outdoor demand surge
• losing two key employees and building systems
• cross-training and SOPs to reduce single points of failure
• personal passion for hunting and family time outdoors
• customer service as the true differentiator
• location, hours, website, phone, and social media

904 Geneva St, Opelika

334-745-7642


SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Suzanne Hodges.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome. And with me is Tyler Reynolds from Reynolds Outdoors in Opalica, Alabama. Welcome, Tyler.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you, Susanna. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm excited to be on with you guys for a little while.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, thank you. And you know, Tyler Reynolds, um, your your family business has been around a long time. Tell us a little bit about Reynolds Outdoors.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, ma'am. So um we back in 2016, uh, my dad and I got Reynolds Outdoors started. There was actually a business that was here that was called Stories that a lot of people were familiar with, and it had been around since the late 50s and 60s. So, you know, it it was a business that had been in place for 50 years, and Mr. Story at the time, he was getting ready to retire. And um, so, anyways, you know, my dad and I grew up um in the outdoors, grew up hunting and fishing and all those sort of sorts of things, and we always kind of said that we felt like the Auburn, Opalaca area needed a um full service uh outdoor sporting goods store. And so it is something we had talked about um, but not really uh sure if it would ever come to fruition. And then that opportunity arose whenever Mr. Story decided to retire. So that all uh got kicked off back in 2016. So and here we are almost 10 years later.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh yep, time flies, doesn't it? And and uh, I mean, I live in Opalica, I'm constantly driving by your place and have been in there a few times. So you are everything outdoors. If you uh enjoy hunting, fishing, I even noticed you have bow and arrows there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, ma'am, we we are. We try to be a full uh service hunting and fishing sporting goods store, is kind of the generic term that is used as a sporting goods store. So we have um firearms, we have archery, we have apparel, we have footwear, so that covers boots and waiters for waterfowl folks. Um, we have fishing gear, we have tree stands and box blinds outside and um even sell deer corn this time of year for people going outdoors. So um, yeah, we try to um have a little bit of everything. If somebody's uh um and I didn't mention ammunition, that's also another uh popular category, but um, we try to you know offer a little bit of everything in popular brands across the board. So if somebody is looking for something outdoor related that we can um help them out.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, tell me a little bit about you, how you got into uh the outdoors uh sporting goods business. Uh you talked about your you and your dad talking about getting into it, but what led to that? How did you decide or why was that a thought? Hey, maybe we should do a sporting goods store.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I know. Some days I wonder if I got dropped on my head and decided to do retail for life. Um uh, you know, when before you get into retail, you don't realize everything that goes into day-to-day basis of retail. You think about the uh just the the the fun side of selling the the outdoor products and not all the behind the scenes. But um, no, it started uh you know, kind of at uh teenage years. Like I said, my dad and I, we'd always talked about like, hey, this would be something that would be really cool to do together. We felt like it was a good business concept and one that was needed in the area. We grew up. I grew up in in Camp Hill, right outside of Auburn, went to school at Lee Scott in Auburn, just because out in the country we didn't really have many school options. So came to town to Lee Scott for for school. And um, so growing up, it was something my dad and I had talked about that that would we felt like would be successful. And then I went to school at Auburn um and got a business finance degree at Auburn and then um an MB the MBA, an MBA degree at Auburn. And so I guess I just had a little bit of that entrepreneurial spirit of wanting to um do something in business for myself one day. I didn't really know exactly what that meant at the time in college. Um, but when the opportunity presented itself right after I finished the MBA program, actually, um, to get this kind of transition from stories to rentals outdoors, um, it was something that um I felt like made sense. And um obviously it was a little bit of risk at the time, but sometimes early in life you can take a little bit more of those um risks before you have kids and um and and a lot of routes set down. And so um, so yeah, that was kind of how it um it just kind of started as a cool idea at the at the time and then and then turned into something that uh turned into a business.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that leads me right into my next question. Part of the reason I do this podcast is to encourage people to follow their desires to go into business for themselves, and um it's always, you know, and uh, you know, like you said, you just start with thinking about it and then you move into action. But there's always gonna be some obstacles or some hardships uh involved in that. So did you have, did you come across anything that was either personal or business-wise that made you stronger and made the business stronger?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, there's um, I guess two really big instances in the last five years that I can think about. And um, you know, I obviously COVID provided a lot of challenges for businesses. Um, but you know, I think everybody had to kind of navigate that. And and so um, but that was it was really difficult from a retail perspective, just getting people in the doors and people are scared to shop and whatnot. Um, but in my industry, it also um at the time people were trying to get outdoors, right? And so it was some unique challenges, uh, good and bad, all at the same time during a uh a really bad uh situation. But the one that that I think challenged me the most was um about two years ago, uh I lost probably my two two of my most key employees within about a third three-week period. One of them had a really bad health health condition that had to um that that essentially uh kept him from working anymore. And then the other um other employees we had to part ways with, unfortunately. But anyways, you know, losing two, we're a small business, right? So we we have you know 12 employees and losing two of your most key employees at the same time within a 30-day period really was challenging, and it taught me to try to have more systems in place so that you know, myself included, if for some reason I can't be here for an exterior-dependent extended period of time, that the business can operate um around a system and not an individual.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And um, and it took some thinking of how to create that, and I'm still not um sitting here telling you that I have it all figured out and that I have those systems perfect, because um that is definitely a challenge. But um, you know, figuring out systems that work and are in place from one employee to the next, because you're going one thing I've learned in 10 years of doing this is that you're going to have employee changes. They're um unfortunately this they're gonna come and go, and and that that's part of any business. Um, so having systems in place that can you can kind of plug and play regardless of who's that you're doing the job is is something that's really important.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely, and it's those kinds of um things that you have to navigate and learn from, is things like that that you don't really think about until you're right in the middle of it, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. That's exactly right. That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, let's shift a little bit and talk about you personally, Tyler. What do you like to do for fun when you're not working at Reynolds Outdoors?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh well, oddly enough, I I it it is it is my job, but it's also my hobby. I mean, I really love to get outside and go hunting. I don't fish as much, um, but I really enjoy hunting and um it is something that is more challenging. Um now, you know, we're really busy during hunting season, so it makes it where it's it's difficult to get out during the fall a lot. Um, but um I really, really, really love turkey hunting in the spring, and we're a little bit slower in the springtime, so it gives me some time to to turkey hunt in the spring, and then um, you know, if I can disconnect for a few days and get on a hunting trip or um, you know, get out to uh to we have a lease out in Campfield that we can hunt that I can uh get out there and hunt some. If I can do that, then it gives me a chance to decompress some. My kids, um, they are uh have a uh two-year-old son and a um daughter that's almost four, and so um they're getting today's they really like to go out with dad and uh do do you know, uh play around. There's not much uh there's there's not a whole lot of uh productive hunting going on at that age, but um it's really fun to get them involved at an early age and and and get them um, you know, that that passion for the outdoors is what I grew up with with my dad, and so being able to pass that along to them is something that's really, really fun and important to me.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, let's uh transition back to your business here. What is one thing you wish that people knew about your business that they may not realize?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, you know, hopefully, hopefully customers can see this, but I I I hope that, or I guess what I would like to convey, hope people realize, is just how much um my employees care about providing a a good customer service experience and how much we strive for that. So, you know, within retail, you know, products are gonna be the same. You know, we sell um products that are branded and manufactured. So what I mean by that is like a vanilla shotgun we sell is gonna be the same vanilla shotgun that another store sells, um, or a Drake camouflage jacket is gonna be the same Drake camouflage jacket that another store sells. Um, but what's different is the customer service experience you receive in in in one retail experience versus another, or or the or the customer service you receive at a in brick and mortar retail experience here that you don't receive online, right? And so um so that's one thing that we I I preach to my employees is is customer service is the thing that can set us apart from competition and and and customer service is still very valued in today's world, I feel like, from consumers. And so um providing customer service experience to people um it it it um creates a relationship, right? So we're trying to create repeat business and relationships with people so that they have a great experience that makes them want to shop again later on, and so um that is I I guess what I would um want to pass along that I I wish people you could see behind the scenes of kind of what goes into that and on the teamwork side of thing of trying to provide that uh great customer service experience.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's uh something that's true for all locally owned businesses is if you shop with um a locally owned business, you're gonna get that kind of uh customer service because you're you're here in the community. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely right. You're absolutely right.

SPEAKER_02:

So, what's a good way for people to find you? Um, and where are you located so people can come by and take a look at your place?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we are located at 904 Geneva Street in Opalika. Uh, Geneva Street is directly off of exit 60. It turns into 10th Street in downtown Opalica. So we're we're kind of right there between downtown Opalica and the interstate. Um, and we also are uh on Facebook, Instagram, and then our phone number is 334-745-7642. So we answer phone calls all day as well. So if you're looking for something in the stock, you can give us a call um and we can answer that for you. You can come shop with us in person, obviously. And then we're always pushing stuff out on social media of uh current products and um if we have any sales or anything like that going on. And we are open Monday through Saturday, 9 to 6. We are closed on Sundays.

SPEAKER_02:

And I looked around your website, it's really good Reynoldsoutdoors.net.

SPEAKER_01:

That is correct, yes, ma'am. Or that is our website. You're spot on.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, thank you so much, Tyler, for joining me. I've enjoyed our conversation.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you for having me, Susanna.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpauburn.com. That's gnpauburn.com or call 334 429 7404.