The Summit Hut

Various other stores came to town. We had Bob's Bargain Barn and Popular Oudoor for a time, but those came and went. Then REI came to town, but Summit Hut endured. Summit Hut had more top tier gear as well as a veteran staff of experienced and knowledgable employees. You could almost always ask, "Well, what do you use?" and get an answer based on experience. Some of this declined in the last years as they began hiring anyone who could work a cash register and was willing to work for minimum wage.

In my analysis, two things led to the demise of the Summit Hut. The first is the trend, especially with the younger generation, to buy things online. To some extent this is the old story of brick and mortar stores trying to survive in a world of online merchandising, but the Summit Hut had a big online presence and made a substantial bit of money from online sales. Not only that, but most intelligent shoppers looking for outdoor gear want to "try it on". This is most especially true of footwear.

There are those who will abuse a brick and mortar store to try on merchandise, then go shop online for the same item once they make their choice or determine their size. I have always viewed this is "dirty pool". If a store provides you service, they deserve your business when you make use of it. Their service may simply be stocking inventory (as well as paying the rent on their building and the bill to keep the lights on). It is sneaky and dishonest to shop a store and then take your business to an online seller with no overhead.

The second thing that killed the Summit Hut is their suppliers rising up to compete with them. Patagonia and Mountain Hardware (and others) began doing direct sales, and had well publicized sales events (the infamous Patagonia sales). Imagine having to compete with your own suppliers!

As the saying goes, "you don't know what you've got until it is gone". I was recently taking a new hiker to REI to shop for boots and remembering the days when you would have a boot fitting expert at the Summit Hut taking care of you. The REI experience was mostly up to you. They had brannock devices laying around, but nobody used them. You picked out a boot from the display, told them your size, (or what you thought your size was) and then made your own judgment about whether it fit right.

I remember at the final "everything must go" sales event at the Summit Hut, a sales person advising me that La Sportiva shoes generally fit 1/2 size bigger (and they do) and that I should try on some shoes 1/2 size bigger than my street shoes (I did, they fit, and I bought them).

Now REI is the only game in town, and it remains to be seen how that plays out. I see them pushing their own house brands more energetically. This may be their own reaction to having to compete with their own suppliers.