Four decades is a long time in any business, let alone paddlesports retail. 4Corners Riversports in Durango, Colorado, hit the milestone this spring and is celebrating 40 years of helping paddlers get on the water. Throughout it all, they’ve learned what’s worked and what hasn’t, all while keeping their focus on making the buying process fun, affordable and informative.
Forty years in the Four Corners
Milt and Nancy Wiley founded the store on the banks of the Animas River in 1983, and sold it to Andy Corra in 1998. Tony Miely came aboard as co-owner in 1999, with Matt Gerhardt joining the ownership team in 2007 and Ashleigh Tucker signing on in 2008.
The foursome has since guided the business through bust, boom and Covid-19. They’re still here and thriving because they’ve been able to roll with the ebb and flow of paddlesports retail, Miely says.
“We’ve seen a lot of changes to the paddlesports market over the years and have tried our best to grow and adapt with them,” he says. “We’ve been pretty good at getting in front of various trends, developing our website early on and growing our online store and presence.”
Paddling has changed dramatically over the years, but for 4Corners it all comes back to running rivers. A big key to the company’s enduring success, he adds, is salespeople with real-world experience and a genuine love of rivers. “They’re the ones on the front lines interacting with your customers,” he says.
Outdoor retail is evolving
It’s been fun, but it hasn’t always been easy. Like many in the retail outdoor game, 4Corners has dealt with everything from staffing and supply bottlenecks to poor water years and changing consumer habits. They’ve also chased some trends they’ve since had to curtail.
“We’re seeing a decline in SUP sales as the market has become saturated and the used market has grown,” Miely says. Other segments have held strong. “Fishing craft have been selling well, with manufacturers putting significant effort into new designs, and whitewater has come back a bit with designs that are more approachable to newer paddlers.”
Sun protection is a hot seller in the arid 4Corners region, especially in the rafting market. “We move a lot of our Coyote Raft Biminis since we have so many good desert floats in our area,” Gerhardt says. “Smaller rafts are also popular because they’re more convenient for day trips than big 14- or 16-foot expedition rigs.” His top pick for hottest new product? The Dagger Nova playboat, followed by Alpacka packrafts.
“Packrafts are selling really well for us, and they’re leading to more people taking up paddling and even buying hard-shells,” he says. While some people buying packrafts come from rafting or kayaking backgrounds, a healthy contingent come from sports like climbing and even bikepacking.
All this has allowed 4Corners to maintain steady growth, despite a post-Pandemic slowdown. “It’s become more challenging, but we expanded our store last year and are feeling good about our growth,” says Miely. The expansion included a revitalized paddling school, which has enhanced storefront sales. “We teach hundreds of people every year and try to keep our class prices affordable to bring more people into the sport,” he says. “Sometimes they buy new gear online after their class, but usually they come into the store because we’ve created that relationship with them.”
“In a world full of Backcountry.coms, it makes all the difference to have staff with real-world experience and a passion for the sport.”
– 4Corners Riversports co-owner Matt Gerhardt
The benefits of brick and mortar
Operating a brick-and-mortar storefront isn’t getting any easier, but it remains the core of the business. “Our website drives a good chunk of in-store foot traffic these days,” Miely says. “A lot of people walk through the door who have already pre-shopped our website, but they still want to come and have that tactile retail experience. They want to see, and touch, and try things on, and ask questions. That’s not possible if you’re shopping solely online.”
Online and in-store sales feed off one another, like kayakers in a playboat lineup. “It’s hard to quantify because so many customers use both our website and showroom for a hybrid shopping experience,” Gerhardt says.
Adds Miely: “Our industry is a tough one to be run fully online—people want to sit in a kayak, paddle a SUP and build out their raft frame.”
4Corners Riversports provides that, along with rentals and a kayak school, all staffed by folks who genuinely love rivers. That combination has endeared them to customers spanning their namesake Four Corners region.
“They’ve built an amazing paddling community over the past 40 years,” says longtime Durango local and world champion slalom racer Kent Ford. “They embrace every aspect of paddlesport, from helping grow the local whitewater park and creating new access points on the Animas to family rafting, SUP rentals on the local lake and kids’ paddling programs that invest in the future,” he says. “The sign over their door says it all: Attitude-free since 1983.”
4Corners Riversports rang in their 40th season with a gala anniversary celebration during their annual gear swap weekend. The party featured two bands, a cast iron cooking competition, free beer, and hundreds of river runners, old and new. Looking ahead to the next 40 years, Gerhardt says they’ll stick with what got them here: First-rate customer service and an unwavering focus on what they do best. “While we all love other sports, river running is really the core of what we do and know, so focusing solely on paddlesports has helped us thrive for four decades,” he says. “That, and employing people who love and know paddling. In a world full of Backcountry.coms, it makes all the difference to have staff with real-world experience and a passion for the sport.”
This article was first published in the 2024 issue of Paddling Business. Inside you’ll find the year’s hottest gear for canoeing, kayaking, whitewater and paddleboarding. Plus: how to beat the big box, robotic kayak rentals, building the Paddlesports Trade Coalition and more. READ IT NOW »
The annual Animas River Days festival brings together a river community spanning four states. | Feature photo: courtesy 4Corners Riversports
