Shopping Local - DeAnn Echols of The Great Outdoor Store

Hosts: Travis Entenman & Lori Walsh
Guest: DeAnn Echols - Owner of Great Outdoor Store

Episode Summary

In this episode of Rivers and Rangelands, hosts Travis Entenman and Lori Walsh sit down inside Sioux Falls’ historic Rock Island Depot with DeAnn Echols, co‑owner of the Great Outdoor Store.​

DeAnn shares the story of how Tom and Julie Ashworth launched the shop in 1983, why it was conceived as an “outdoor boutique,” and how she went from part‑time sales associate in the late 1980s to buying and expanding the business downtown. She reflects on building a welcoming, design‑forward retail space where hunters, travelers, and “everyday outdoorsy” South Dakotans can all feel like they belong—whether they’re buying a zero‑degree sleeping bag or a Royal Robbins dress.​

The conversation explores how long‑time outdoor brands like Patagonia have deepened their environmental commitments, what it means for a small brick‑and‑mortar store to partner with conservation efforts, and why a healthy planet is inseparable from time spent outside playing, working, and exploring. DeAnn also talks about staff culture, multi‑decade customer relationships, and why in‑person shopping remains a social, tactile experience that online retail can’t replace.

About the Show

Rivers & Rangelands explores conservation, water, and community in the Northern Great Plains. Hosted by Travis Entenman and Lori Walsh, the podcast asks big questions about how we care for our land and water — today and for generations to come.

🎶 Special thanks to Jami Lynn for providing the music for this episode. You can explore more of her music here: jamilynnsd.com

👉 Follow Friends of the Big Sioux River for more episodes, updates, and ways to get involved.

👉👉  And to hear more from Lori, follow So Much Sunlight, a newsletter of essays, poetry, and audio ephemera on Substack!

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

I mean, I think you know, all of the people that work at these companies, they're extremely passionate about the outdoors and about what they're doing, and because of that connection between going outside to play in whatever manner that is, and the environment, it's like one and one. You You know you can't separate the two they have. You know, you have to have a great a good environment and a sustainable environment for you to go out and play. And so I think that those Well, welcome to the next episode of rivers and rangelands Podcast. I'm Travis Entenman, joined with Lori Walsh. Good morning. Good morning. We are downtown in one of my favorite buildings and favorite shops, really, because it's a historic train station right The Rock Island depot, South Dakota's or Sioux Falls, first, original train station, 1886 1886 this building, incredible. Yeah, across from the bus station. So you might hear a little bus station traffic the scenario Metro, which I find charming, and perhaps if you work here every day, you find less charming. It kind of gets tuned out after a while. You don't really hear it. So we are talking with one of the CO owners of the great outdoor store in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Deanne Eccles, Good Morning, morning. Thank you for joining us. Well, of course, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. Great outdoor stores and the retail industry working with outdoor clothing brands and gear brands, and we wanted to kind of bring that idea of how retail and conservation and the environment all kind of flow together, and how the industry is looking at some of our environmental Issues locally and globally, and how they are looking at their products and services and how the changing environment is impacting, you know, the industry as a whole. So thank you for letting us pick your brain a little bit. You're welcome. Happy to be here. How did the vision of the store get started? Who started it? Well, it started with Tom and Julie Ashworth back in 1983 and Tom had a vision of starting a store. He's kind of a renaissance guy. He's an artist and designer, I think, at heart. And that was his start to it. He was looking for something to do that he could also take care of his son at the same time. So they thought, let's open a retail store. And so he did that that had many locations before it came here. I started working with Tom in I believe it was 1989 I'm gonna date myself. But I started working part time. My husband and I had gone into great outdoor store, which in its second location was out by the target by the mall. Okay, there's that target in Sioux Falls. Well, no, it was not inside. So there's that bank building that's in the Target parking lot. Oh, yeah, it was in there. And half of it was great outdoor store, and the other half was landscape garden center, really, really. And so we had gone in there my husband, when he got out of college, when we got out of college, he started filming hunting and fishing videos with a gentleman out of Chamberlain, South Dakota, and they would go around the country filming hunting and fishing videos. So he needed all this gear because they were camping and, you know, climbing mountains and doing all kinds of stuff. So we went into great outdoor store and got outfitted. And I just loved the place. And, you know, just thought it was such a fun environment. Well, he happened to be gone all the time because he was doing this, and I was looking I was bored at home, so I said, I'm gonna get a part time job. So I worked there part time, and that's when I started. So I worked for Tom for probably about 10 years, part time, before I actually ended up buying the store. Oh, wow, yeah. We bought the counter at the counter serving customers. Yeah, just regular, part time sales associate. Was it cool back then? What was the vibe? Because now you have all these different brand recognition and back in the 80s, early 90s, that just didn't exist, it's a little hard to understand, if you're younger, what that scene was like. Well, it's it's funny, because many of the brands that you know and love today, we carried back then, you know, Patagonia has been around. We've, he's carried Patagonia for over 30 years. You know, we've had Patagonia. So the brands didn't really change that much. I think it was more just it coming, you know, to the consumer. And people becoming more aware of the brands. But back then, we were helping a lot of hunters, of course, and people that were traveling. And I think what Tom started was this sort of outdoor boutique environment, is what I would call it. So where it's it's outdoor, of course, and and the products and clothing that we carry have many functions, right? You could use something to go hiking in or go hunting in, or whatever, whatever. You could also just wear it around town, sure, and he presented it in such a way that it wasn't intimidating or wasn't so niche that you felt like you didn't belong in in store, you know what I mean? So you could come in and you would feel like, oh, they have a really cute royal Robin's dress, you know? But I can also, you know, buy a sleeping bag for a zero degree sleeping bag to go hunting it, you know, it's so it was just kind of this. In the industry, we call it kind of, they call it core outdoor when you're very focused, technical, technically driven in your products and your selection. We've never really been like that. We've always been softer. You know, everyday consumer, everyday consumer. You know you can wear it to hike, but you can wear it to your kids soccer game. Sure, you know it's gonna keep you with dry. So did he have, when starting the star and getting into the outdoor specific brands and having this kind of guarantee, did he have a background in the like hunting and fishing like, Why? Why this type of product? Why this type of store? Well, I think he would, you know, he's from South Dakota, so, you know, he knew the outdoor industry. You know, we interviewed him several, a few years back for our 40th anniversary, and I remember him talking about, you know, why he started it. I think it was more about, not necessarily the industry itself, but But what retail would bring to his personal life and his ability to take care of his son at the time. And I watched that interview, and he also says in there, there was a gap, yeah, in Yeah, one of the flexibility. He was an outdoor he hunted, he fished, but then he also saw there was a gap, pre shields, pre cabellos, pre these big box places, there was a gap for this boutique place. And I love what you said there about the royal Robbins dress. You know, I was 18, and I went and bought this royal Robbins dress at the great outdoor store. Did not know who royal Robbins was, was not an outdoors person in that, in that intense way. And what you say about sort of inviting everybody in, like I felt comfortable in that store picking out a dress as an 18 year old. And in some ways, all of us in South Dakota are outdoorsy, yes, you know, like I grew up playing outside. I was always outdoors, right? You just you were outdoors because you lived here, and you grew up here in that store, and what you do now is, is the same. You know, you can take that rain gear camping. But then when my daughter had a play, and the play was outdoors, and it rained buckets on us, guess what rain gear I was wearing for the play, yeah, exactly, exactly. And I think he presented it in in such a way, because he has such a great he has has such a great eye for design his the way he merchandise the store, and he always used a lot of plants and a lot of florals, and merchandising was always the forefront of how he presented the store, and that's what I think brought that softness and that welcome environment to it and and that's kind of how I learned, and how I, you know, try to continue that environment Now, creating a sense of belonging. Yeah, space exactly, ease. Make it comfortable and not intimidating at all. So why did you want to own the business then? Why wanting to buy it from Tom and Julie at some point? Well, I always wanted to own a business, always. And, you know, I started out in sales, and that was fine. Having a business was always kind of something that was at my core and that I wanted to do. And I had approached Tom about buying the business a few years prior to him being ready to do it, he expressed that he wasn't quite ready, and so I actually went out and started another business, and it was kind of the same scenario as as Tom i i saw a gap. And not because I was really interested in what I did, but I saw a gap and I opened a card, greeting card and gift store downtown where Haskins is actually, oh, really, yeah. And it was called, what a card. And I carried. Read greeting cards, tons of greeting cards, gifts, and I did custom invitations. Yeah, and that was back in 1980 1996 when I also got my business cards. From what a card did you really there you go. Small world. Look how my life has been changed by the business people. Right? Great outdoor store. So I was there. Started that in 1996 and then Tom was ready, about it was like the end of 1998 he expressed that he was ready to sell, and was I interested? And I thought, gosh, I just started this other business. And, and, but, but I knew that great outdoor store is what I really wanted, right? That's what I really wanted to do. So I just, you know, I went to the bank and I was like, oh, what would you say if I said I wanted to buy great outdoor store, yeah. And they were like, well, put a business plan together, and I did, and it worked out. And so I ran both businesses for two years. I kind of back and forth up and down the street for two years. And then the space next to great outdoor store, which the toy store still has opened up, and I sold what a card so that I could finance expanding great outdoor store to that next space over. So at that point, the store was downtown. It was okay on Phillips. It was, yep, did you do you study business in college? No, no, no advertising and public relations. Okay, so why undergrad? Yeah, so why did you always want to open a business? I don't know. You know, my dad had a business, so maybe that was it. I don't know. I don't know. What did you think business was, and what did you learn that it was that you didn't know. Once you got into it, you're like, oh, it's also this, yeah, I think what I always, you know, my dream of it is front of house, right? That that's my forte, how to present the products, buying the products and and, you know, being in the on the floor sort of stuff. It's the back end that I'm not so in love with. You know, the accounting and the taxes and forecasting and all of that stuff. Yeah. That's why my wonderful husband does that, does all of that part. So I kind of handle the front end, the front end, he handles the back end, yeah. And it works out great, yeah. So you've been working within this space for since the 80s or late 80s? Yeah, has the business changed? Great outdoor itself. Does it evolve throughout that time? Of like customers you're serving, the type of products you're bringing, how the the community has changed with the store, how the how has that looked over this time period? The evolution, I would say, has been sort of, I would say, slight. You know, it has evolved. We've gotten much bigger, of course, than than what it was originally. The products, I would say, have stayed pretty much in the same framework they've just kind of, you know, changed as materials change and innovation comes along, and, you know, so things have gotten better and better, and using better types of materials and Incorporating, you know, more just thought and technology into products. It's fun, because, having been in this business for as long as I have, you really see, we've seen our customers grow up and have their families, service their families, and their and then their then their kids, and we're servicing their you know, it's been, it's been really amazing that way. You know, some of our customers, we literally have grown up with them. That's really fun and and heartwarming. You know, to me, that's kind of one of the great things about being in this business. You know, we're lucky that we just have always had really loyal and really good customers. They they stick with us, they come back, they encourage their families to shop with us. And we get found every we still get found every day. You know, we still have people come in almost every day saying, Oh, I've never been in here. Oh, really, yeah. They'll say, Oh, I've driven by this a million times, but I've never stopped in. And we're like, Oh, we're so glad you finally stopped in. Or they'll say, Well, I don't camp, so I'm not gonna, you know, I never thought I needed to come in, sure, yeah. I'm like, You do not have to camp. Yeah, come in. We have all kinds of things for people who have never camped. So, you know, you have that core customer base that we. Kind of has grown up with us, and then, and then we still have new people every day too. So that's really great. I love that. That's funny, because so we interviewed Michael Haskett, and he kind of actually, you know, he's in the restaurant business, but he had that same kind of thought there his, there's these core customers that come in and they're kind of extension, you know, family extension a little bit you see them grow and you help each other out. And it's that hospitality mindset transcends industry, which is really interesting to see. And I don't know if that's a Midwest thing or, you know what it is, but I mean, when people come in, we talk, we call them by their name, you know, we asked them about their families, you know. So it is. It's like an extension of your family, yeah. Well, so with that, with talking about the brands, you know, and you say, you know, they're the gear itself is changing and get more sophisticated, you know, as technology changes. But how has, you know, getting back to the environmental piece of things, how has kind of the the mentality and ethos of these bigger brands, you know, I love Patagonia like everyone else, and they, they're a supporter of ours because of great outdoors there, which is really wonderful. Thank you. Happy to do it. But you know, they are very conscious of the environment and their impact on there and funding things through for conservation purposes. How has that changed with the brands that you work? Has that always been ingrained with these brands? Has that been an evolution within that you've seen? How does that? How has that changed? I think there's definitely been an evolution in that over the, you know, 20 some years that I've been doing this the outdoor industry, obviously, we care so much about the outdoors, and that that's our livelihood, right? Is getting people outside and and helping them to enjoy the outdoors. And I think that being in the clothing and technical gear space. You know, we're probably it's not great for the environment. What the stuff that we make is not great for the environment? And I would say probably at least 15 to 20 years ago that started coming more to the forefront and how brands think about the products that they're making and what those products are doing to the environment. But it's been, it has, you know, it has to be sort of a dance, right? Because you have to make the products and then think about them in an environmental way, impact way. And it takes time to make that happen, to figure out, okay, how do we how do we work with recycled materials? How do we find things that we can make material out of that's better the for the environment and all of that stuff kind of takes time for those processes to start to happen and for it to to come from the desire to make it better, to actually making it better. It's always a topic of conversation in the industry. There's, there's so many different things that that, you know, even if you think about how the product comes to us, you know, it used to always come in plastic bags. Oh, sure, yeah. And we used to re be able to recycle those plastic bags. Well, now we can't recycle the plastic bags anymore, so they're just, in the last probably five years, they've started to come up with, how do we replace those recycled you know, those not how do we replace those plastic bags with recyclable or compostable bags, or no bags at all? Because then when they come over containers, they have to be protected somehow, right? So it's a lot of things that you don't really think about, but you've always been thinking about durability, absolutely, products that will last because of the nature of how they're being used. It's not really a fast fashion kind of industry, or is it? Well, it's not a fast fashion industry, but a lot of vendors in the industry use fast fashion systems, systems, okay, yes, yeah, okay, so I think there too, you know, like even Patagonia will say, Yes, we use fast fashion systems, but we're in there teaching them how to maybe do it a little bit different there. They're trying to get in in those industries and and help them to become maybe a little more environmentally conscious. And now the explosion of. A extended life of products, sure. So Patagonia worn, where? Where, you know, you can go on and sell your old gear. There's, you know, the posh marks and all of the consignment apps and stuff that are out there. We belong to organization called grassroots outdoor Alliance, which is, it's like 127 independently owned outdoor stores throughout the country. And we do a lot of collaboration and a lot of work in the space and and a lot of those shops, one of the biggest topics of conversation right now is in store, consignment. Oh, really, yeah. So like, you know how we have garage sale? We've been doing garage sale for a couple of years. Well, this year we're expanding it to we're going to do two instead of just one in the fall. Now we're doing one in the spring, one in the fall, because it has become such a big part of a lot of shops in the last five years where they're dedicating spaces within their shops just for consignment. Wow, can you expand on what the garage sale program was? So what we do is we invite people to bring their old, gently used outdoor clothing and some equipment, not all, but some equipment. And we offer them store credit in exchange for those products. We kind of go through and and look at them and kind of rate them, and then offer them off, offer the customer a price on on those goods. And then we turn around and we reprice them and sell them at our garage sale. It's been, like, wildly successful, yeah, I know if you're not there, like, right away, yeah, all the good stuff. I know when we get some really good stuff, I know it's like, oh my god, we get stuff with tags on it. We get stuff that is just like vintage too, you know, like I've shot, I don't know how many pictures I've shot to my Patagonia rep, and I've gone, oh, my God, look at this. And, you know, just some really, really vintage, great pieces. And it's just kind of runs the gamut, but I think it's brought a kind of a different customer to our store, too. Oh, really, yeah, I think a little bit, you know, products, you know, they carry a premium price, right? Yeah. So it allows people to get into those, those premium price products at, you know, a really great price. And it's shops that are, you know, building on that whole success. But it's also vendors, you know, you know, North Face is doing one now, Toad and CO is doing one now, where they have an online resale section to their websites are customers asking questions about sustainability. Um, you know about sustainability? Not so much, not so much here. From other shops that I've talked to, you know, depending on where they are, it's, it's more asked about, but not so much here, yeah, why do you think that is? I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I think people are aware and conscious of it, but, and sometimes people it's, they don't necessarily ask, you know, they might be thinking about it, but they're not necessarily gonna, you know, announce they might have done their research before they came in the store about companies coming here, yeah, what they're looking for? Yeah, aspect to it, or they might not have an awareness. Yes, you don't know if they're not asking interesting. So your relationship with vendors matter. What kind of questions, if you go to you know, a market and you're seeing new products, what kind of questions you asking those vendors that help you decide what you're bringing into your store. I'll say a lot of times you don't have to ask the questions, because they're telling you, okay, right up front, they are. They're telling you up front the things that they're doing to make their products more sustainable or environmentally friendly. They're educating us about new materials that they're finding. They're really, really conscious of it, I think now more so than ever. So they're excited to talk about it. So when we go in and sit down with a vendor to look at a look at a line for a season, they they're they're on it. It's one of the first things they start talking about is, is the things that they've been doing to lessen the impact that they're making on the environment. That's interesting. Yeah, that's good business. It is. Yeah, it really is. It really is. Was that? Do you think was that consumer? Driven, like to start that process of them thinking about these more sustainable practices. Were the consumers asking for that, or were they trying to take a lead? What was the chicken and egg of of how they started kind of snowballing into more sustainable practices? Do you think, does that make sense? Yeah, it does. Honestly, I'm not sure, yeah, I mean, I think you know, all of the people that work at these companies, obviously, you know, they're extremely passionate about the outdoors and about what they're doing, and because of that connection between going outside to play in whatever manner that is, and the environment, it's like one and one. You can't you you know, you can't separate the two they have. You know, you have to have a great, a good environment and a sustainable environment for you to go out and play in. Sure. And so I think that those, those folks at those brands, it came to them out of probably their own love of doing whatever it is that they do. Yeah, and consumer, you know, it's probably a little, you know, a little bit of both, I guess. So, Patagonia has that in their business story, I don't know. And they're a driver. Let me tell you, they they are a driver in the industry. I interviewed Yvonne Chouinard, yes, I did with Dan O'Brien when they were out together. Yeah, they came into the public broadcasting studios, and I was able to get to know him a little bit. And I just feel like from reading his book and talking to him, yeah, you know, he was creating ways to make things that hadn't been made before, yeah, right, yeah. I mean the and, and the action behind the words Yeah, with him, it's like, Okay, here's a problem. We need to solve it, and then he solves it. What an amazing story. That is the wild idea, and that whole ranch there is just amazing, amazing, remarkable South Dakota story. Yes, it really is. Really is. Yeah. Talk about your staff. When I think of Chouinard, I think of you know, how are we going to treat our employees? How are we going to work with people so they can also have the life outdoors that they want and bring their best selves to the office, and what that office might look like is different. Yeah, tell me about the partnerships you make here with your staff. Well, I'm so lucky. I'm so lucky I have the best staff, and I always have, always have had amazing, amazing people that I've been able to work with, and they've stuck with me. I mean, my general manager has been with me for 17 years, I know, and she started with me when she was in college. Another amazing young woman had worked for me for over 20 years. I'm lucky in that I've been able to work with people who we have the same passions. We have similar ideals and values. And so coming to work has always been a pleasure, and I, you know, it's funny, because I always call, I call my staff, my kids. I don't have children of my own, but I call, you know, I always say, well, the kids are doing this and the kids are doing that. It's just been amazing, you know. And there's been some staff that has moved along in the outdoor industry, which has been so great to see. And no, I'm proud of all of them, and they've just been great. And this is brick and mortar. This is, yeah, a destination shop where people come and try on things and touch the sleeping bag before you buy, yeah, and talk to the staff that's been here for 17 years. Yeah, that's not always easy to maintain in the current marketplace. Yeah, no. How do you do it? Well, we have challenges. Of course, we always have challenges. We were talking a little bit earlier. We have, you know, the weather is always a challenge and and just, you know, market conditions and all kinds of things can affect retail. But, you know, we just kind of, we try to come in every day with a positive attitude and do the things that we need to do to keep ourselves relevant and to keep our business systems working the way they should. And yeah, we, we've, we've been. We've weathered some storms and and made it through and but showing up and having an in person shopping experience still matters to you. You still believe in that otherwise you would have shifted long absolutely how boring is shopping online. That's very true, and it's so singular. And shopping, to me, is social, right? When you come in, you're usually shopping with a friend or a group of friends, or when you come in, you engage with the staff. You have conversations. They ask questions. You know, it's not this staring at a screen trying to figure out what the color is and whether or not it's going to fit me, you know, I I love shopping. I guess that's kind of why I love what I do. Is because I love to shop, even outside my own shop. I love to go shopping, yeah, you know? And I always have, always, even as a kid, I don't think that's ever going to go away. I just don't. People crave getting out and seeing things and touching things and trying stuff on, like you said. And you know, that's where the fun is. Yeah, I love the thing I love about I love folding, the folding things in retail, folding is touching things for us. Yeah, you got a folding game. We do have a folding game, and I am the staff is like, on it. I'm like, the worst folder in the store. No, because they are. We had one employee in the past. He's, he's moved on, and actually works for rumble right now. But he was like, the master folder, and we would have folding clinics, and he would teach everybody, yes, you could open that up community engagement, but I'll come for your city. Does that community ed? But yeah, no, yeah, no, folding is a big thing here, and that gets to merchandising, that gets to the look of the story. Help us understand how this place is different. We talked about the historic building. Obviously, there's a passion for arranging and organizing. How is like? What's the secret to great merchandising? Well, you know, that's what I learned from Tom and another great friend of mine who worked with me through great outdoor store, Shelly Erickson, who basically taught me merchandising right and how to create an environment. Because that's what you're doing, right? You're creating an environment for someone the building brings so much to that. And when we were so fortunate to get this amazing building, so that is kind of like your, you know your stage, and then you you dress your stage right? So we kind of want to transport people to maybe a different place. We get comments so many times that when people come in, they're like, oh my gosh, this. I can't believe this is here. This. This looks like it's out of Colorado somewhere, or, you know, a mountain town or something. And that's, that's our goal, right? Is to have people come in and feel like they're transported somewhere else. Isn't that interesting, though? That here we are in South Dakota, with the Black Hills, with the Missouri River, with all the beautiful East River places to hike and camp and play, and people go, Ooh, it looks like someplace cool. Yeah. That's us. Yeah. This looks like home. Great things and in good health, family pictures in fog, which I inflict upon myself is captive. City that's still growing up in some ways, and understanding the impact and influence that it has on the region and in the world. Yeah, I think it kind of shows folks is biased or perception of the natural environment in the state that needs to, you know, we need to work on changing a little bit. But yeah, for sure, for sure. You know, we have a few years back, we started a group called Pathfinders, which was, is a membership group, and we, and then we facilitate excursions for them each month to get out, you know, close to town, you know, and do things and do things together and with like minded people. And this year, the Pathfinders have done, you know, all kinds. They go hiking, you know, we we climb. Go climbing. We. Um, they take a trip out to the hills, backpacking. Every year. They go on bike rides. They, you know, we did a curling lessons, fly fishing lessons, you know, all kinds of different things. But just try to, you know, trying to get people who are interested in what, what they can do around here, to get out in the outdoors and and enjoy it, which has been really great, really, really great. And there's so much interest in me. I think we sign up about 60 or 75 people every year. And oh, wow, that's been a really, really great program. The social aspect of getting outdoors, yeah, which also eliminates some of the intimidation, exactly. If you've never been stand up paddle boarding and you sort of want to go and fly fishing, right, these are kind of intimidating. Yes, could be, yeah. What do you like to do outside? What's your we are? You all business? No, no, we used to camp a lot. Yeah, you know, we're, we're a little older now, so we don't camp as much. We love to hike, so we'll do a lot of hiking trips. We're kind of at this stage in our life, kind of just more into travel. I've done a little climbing here and there with with the staff. Some of those, some of those activities are behind me. It's time to start thinking about, okay, yeah, yeah, one step slower, right? I can relate. Right now, getting to the airport is an adventure, and overnight in the air. And, you know, having, having a business does have, you know, you kind of have to be on and available, sure, right? And so sometimes when you want to go do stuff, or when is when the optimal time to go do things are, is not the optimal time for the business, you know, sure. So sure. Usually, our summers are really busy and the winters are really busy. So it's hard for us to get away in those times, but those transitional times, you know, Spring and Fall is usually when we can get out and do something. Yeah, one thing I wanted to touch on is kind of the local impact the store has had on conservation and the environment. So, you know, selfishly, personally, we're friends of the big Sue. You know, the store allowed us to get in the Patagonia network, right? And they've done, you know, they're a big sponsor of ours every year, and they sent me to Lake Tahoe for a grassroots training, even. And so it's been a really big impact to to the organization and myself. How have you seen that the impact of the store change over time? You know, you have the the gear sale, the Pathfinders, you have gears and beers, and you know, you're putting money back into the community for different you know, what do you see that impact being it's been so great to work with all of the organizations that we work with, as the environment has become more of an issue in our industry, but also just in the conscience of America, we just wanted to kind of see what we could do to do our part. And so we've tried to come up with ways that that we can partner with environmental organizations locally. Gear and beer being probably one of the first things we did. It's been it's been really wonderful. We've made great friends. I think we've helped to promote those organizations throughout the community a little bit. We talk about them a lot in store, we do in store, we do our bagless donations, typically for not always environmental but but different organizations throughout the city to try to to help bring awareness to some different organizations and that that need funding. Bagless donations being if you don't take a bag, we donate five cents to we do it for each six months. We change it out, and we pick two organizations, and then the customer gets to choose which organization they want to make a donation to. And it's not a huge impact, but, but it's certainly cut down on our bag usage. Yeah, you know, people are all for it. Yeah, they love it. They'd much rather not have a bag and give give a little money to something then, then that's been great, and it's important for us, because of the industry that we're in, to represent ourselves as someone who cares about a business that cares about the environment and what we're doing in our own community to to help the. Uh, those initiatives move forward. Are you seeing that change with other local retailers in in in town, not just in the outdoor space, but, you know, pomegranate market, I know does bagless donation? Yeah. Have you seen that change? Absolutely? I mean, yeah, absolutely. I think more and more businesses are becoming a little more eco conscious and in how they run their business. I mean, look at look at Sarah Jamison at Tara Shepherd. That's her whole business model, right? Her entire business model is sustainability, which is just awesome, and she's just doing a fantastic job at that. It's really resonating with the consumer. Yeah, right. And I think especially the younger consumers are, I would say probably the 30 and under customer is much more aware I feel, and much more conscious of what they're buying and what impact it has and they want. They're interested. They're they're more interested in maybe spending a little bit more and having a good quality product that's going to last them a long time, rather than that whole fast fashion right spinning wheel. Patagonia, last year came out with their one of their initiatives was buy quality once, you know, and what and what a what, you know, how concise is that, you know, it's just yeah, buy quality once, and then you're not just recite, you know, just Yeah, yeah, only I could stay the same size, right? Yeah, but I think, I think in the future, even more so than now. I think it's going to become even more impactful, just because the generation that's coming up has kind of grown up with with the environment and those ideas in the in their conscious and conscious and they does that give you hope for the future of business too, not just the future of the planet, but that business models will change and be sustainable and supportive of people, of labor, of Yeah, it does. And I think it's kind of already started. I think it's already moving in the right direction, and it's going to continue to do so, because it, you know, it kind of has to right. It kind of has to otherwise, yeah, we're going to be a world of hurt, but definitely, definitely think it's moving in the right direction, and we'll continue to, for sure, yeah, that's, that's a good that'd be great. Well, thank you for all you've done for my organization, friends, and what you're doing here and developing this, this community that you got going. Well, thank you. You guys have a great, great thing going, and we love supporting you. And, yeah, it's been, it's been a great and from the dress when I was 18 to the business cards when I was 27 to the blanket in your life. Isn't that what a small local business is? It is. You know, when somebody opens a business in your town, you grow up in that town, and you are defined in some ways by a relationship with someone that you don't see necessarily. That's why local business is so important and why everyone needs to shop local. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Deanne echoes, co owns the great outdoor store in downtown Sioux Falls, and you can find more of the independent podcast rivers and rangelands, the interviews are on your favorite podcast platform now. Listen, share, rate, review and follow friends of the Big Sioux River on social media to see when new episodes are released. Loving a place is not enough. You need a willingness to protect it, and sometimes that willingness begins when you get outside to play dress appropriately. Our show music for season one was thoughtfully provided by Jamie Lynn. Find her albums and music on her website. Jamie Lynn music.com for Travis Entenman. I'm Lori Walsh, thank you for listening. You.