Halloween shopping experience is frighteningly good

Although Halloween is a time of horror, ghosts and trick-or-treat, one retail store turned a shopping expedition into a real eye-opening treat.

Performance Studios (www.performancestudiosinc.com), is a truly impressive costume shop in downtown Nashville, Tenn. It occupies a large building (more than 15,000 square feet) with high ceilings, and there are racks from the floor to the rafters holding every costume imaginable, from Elvis jumpsuits to stage-worthy Renaissance dresses. In addition to the huge rental inventory, a massive retail section includes wigs, masks, rubber body parts, pirate jewelry, plastic swords, you name it.

Like any retailer, Performance Studios is battling the recession, and it faces a situation where consumers are likely to cut back on Halloween spending, just as consumers are in general still limiting purchases...

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Never take health and fitness for granted

Exercise, health and happiness – what many of us in the outdoor and fitness industries enjoy because of the lifestyles we choose, shouldn’t be taken for granted.

I have been haunted the last few weeks by a short exchange with a man on a bike path in Denver.

On returning from a two-hour+ run along the Platte River path after the Health & Fitness Business show, I stopped in the shade to stretch and take my last sip of water – and to relish in being done, having succeeded, and feeling so good.

A few feet away, a man with the typical orange vest of a city worker was sitting on a planter on the side of the path breathing heavily. He could have been 40, but because of his girth, ruddy face, and blotchy skin, he looked older. Nearby was a government-issue truck and some tools on the ground – he obviously was doing some work on the path after the thunderstorms a couple of days earlier.

He turned his head slowly to look at me. His face was rather drawn and his stare was blank. His eyes seemed filled with sadness.

“How do you find the time to run?” he asked, matter-of-factly, cocking his head a bit and furrowing his brow.

I get that question all the time, as I’m sure many of us who run or workout regularly do, but this was not your typical tone. There was an underlying longing, nearly a plea in his voice; he seemed to be begging for the information.

“Well, it helps to do it in the morning before you are too tired – or can find too many excuses,” I said slowly, taking on my coaches’ voice.

He listened carefully, and then replied, “I’ve been a welder for 15 years. I’ve been working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.” This was obviously not meant as an excuse or said to boast, but was more of a matter-of-fact statement on his life … with a tinge of regret.

“But this afternoon,” he said, pausing and looking out over the creek’s flowing water, “I’m getting a physical at 2….

“Then I’m quitting.”

He paused again and turned to look back at me, not flinching. I realized he just needed somebody with whom to share his life-changing decision – perhaps somebody who would understand and support it. So I listened.

“I have a job on an organic farm in Santa Rosa, California. I hope I can get healthy again.”

He finished, still looking at me without much expression on his face.

“That sounds like it was a big decision,” I said. “You know, you have just to start slowly. I’m from California. I’m just visiting here.

“You’ll do great there. Santa Rosa and that whole area north of San Francisco is very healthy. You’ll get lots of support and have lots of opportunities.”

A faint smile flitted across his face. “I like to get abalone too,” he said.

“Oh, you’re really close to the coast there. You’ll be able to do that.”

“You look so fit…like you should be wearing a number,” he said.

“I do that sometimes too. It’s fun. But you have to start slowly, even just 5 or 10 minutes at a time.”

“Really?” he asked.

“You’ll do great,” I said.

He turned to look back at the creek, only a few hours from the moment everything he knew he would know no more. This was obviously a huge, life-changing decision for him – and he chose to share it with a perfect stranger on the path.

“Good luck,” I said.

Another faint smile crossed his face as he stared off, watching the water flow in the creek.

I flicked on my chronograph and jogged back onto the street toward my hotel, grateful for the health and joy my lifestyle allows, haunted now though by the sad face of a man longing for change.

I hope he finds the health and happiness he was seeking -- in time to enjoy it. I started wishing I knew the name of the farm in Santa Rosa so I could see where he was headed.

Of course, I’ll likely never know if he succeeds at turning around his life. But, if I were a gambling woman, I’d put down a bet he does.

And why do you want to write about our product?

At the recent OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen, I wandered into the Outwell booth to ask about the company’s new “pop-up tent” it was pushing in, yes, press releases in the newsroom and on prominent displays in the booth. Outwell is a Danish company that distributes its family camping and outdoor gear in 30 countries.

Wearing my media badge displayed prominently, I took a couple of slow laps around the booth to see what the company had. I walked past a couple of Outwell employees…twice…as I circled, and they looked up at me a couple of times but quickly went back to their own conversation and coffee.

Finally I maneuvered over closer to their table and stood and stared at them.

“Yes?” one man looked up and finally asked, not exactly sounding welcoming.

“I’m interested in finding out more about the pop-up tent, a little about how it works, its technology, the patent and that kind of thing.”

He stared at me a moment. “Who are you?” he asked.

I apologized for not stating I was with the media; though I assumed my media badge sort of made it obvious. After I explained where I was from (speaking in German, mind you, so misunderstanding was not an issue) and that I wanted more information about the tent, he stared at me for a minute again, and then asked simply, “Why?”

Hmm, OK, I admit it is not often a journalist seeking to write about a product has to deal with someone wondering why…especially a representative of that company.

Well, it’s our job to cover this show and write about what we see, I said.

“We don’t sell in the United States,” he said.

I said that didn’t make a difference; we write about interesting things we see here for our trade audience back in the U.S. and also in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America.

“Why?” was the question again.

I wanted to say, “You’re kidding me, right?” But, bit my tongue.

“I just want some information about your tent. That seems pretty simple,” I said, adding that I had seen in a German outdoor newsletter that it stemmed from an American patent.

Long pause with a penetrating glance….. “Just a minute,” he said.

At this point, they had to realize I wasn’t going to give up. I just hoped the tent went up far easier than my attempts at prying information from this company.

He ducked into the back behind a curtain. A moment later he came back out with a woman.

“Can I help you?” she said in English.

I decided to make the language switch from German to English too since maybe that would help with their apparent confusion. Anything to speed this along.

“I’d like to have your new tent shown to me. I am interested to hear about the technology and a little bit about the tent design,” I explained again.

“Why?” she asked.

Frankly, I was beginning to wonder why myself. But, I resolved to persevere though I am sure I did let more than just a casual tone of frustration enter my voice as I responded: “Look, this is so simple really. I am a journalist and I just want to see the tent and get some information that I might possibly want to include in a story. How hard can that be?”

“Calm down, you want some coffee?” the woman responded.

Coffee?? To calm down? It was all I could do just to keep myself from responding, "Why?"

Instead, I stated firmly, “No, I don’t not want any coffee, just information!”

She called over yet another man, a product manager, it seemed. I must have finally passed muster, worn them all down, or she needed backup -- I’m not sure which.

She then produced a press kit with a CD and the product guy showed me the tent, insisting it had nothing to do with an American patent but was in fact their own. I told him I only mentioned that since I saw it in some German press and in fact I knew there had been a U.S. patent 10 or 12 years ago on something similar, and that SNEWS had in fact seen the product at an Outdoor Retailer trade show, and just wanted to take a look. The product guy explained it well, showing the hinges and how it worked…finally.

I left the booth shaking my head. No coffee for me; I needed a stiff drink.

Another shining example of how customer service works -- or should

When I lived in Germany many moons ago, customers were not king. In fact, traditionally, you just shopped and cowered, begging for service and goodness gracious should you try to suggest to a cashier that something was mismarked. I made that mistake once as a college student, telling a cashier that she had overcharged me for an item. Her reaction? To sit back in her chair, cross her arms firmly across her chest and stare into space in front of her not acknowledging I even still existed. I got the message and wriggled away meekly.

But things are changing for the better as the German public is realizing it has rights, just as stores and employees realize they can actually be nice and offer service – in fact, that they have to do that in order to keep customers and stay in business.

Just this week, while in Germany covering a trade show, I happened into a pharmacy for a prescription. Now, pharmacies in Germany are a bit different. Pharmacists act a bit like doctors, listening to ailments and suggesting something you might have, standing behind a counter and fetching the appropriate meds from rows of shelves behind them. They are – or have been – pretty bureaucratic places.

I strolled in with my U.S. prescription and showed it to the young woman. She dove into “scurry mode,” searching her computer, looking up the med, suggesting she could get it delivered by that evening for me to pickup since they didn’t have it on hand (“Would that work for you?”). Then she added as an afterthought, “You know, there is this other medicine that is very similar here that is significantly less expensive. Do you want to try that one instead? I have it here and it would save you a lot of money.”

I was stunned. Well, sure, OK… She told me about it and it seemed correct so I got it (for nearly half the price), although they only had one small package of two tablets. She said if I wanted more, she had a friend who worked at the trade show and, if my schedule didn’t allow me to get back in during working hours, I could call her and she could figure out a way to have her friend deliver it to me there. Wow. Now that’s service.

So I paid for it and was out the door on the street when I heard a voice behind me: The woman had dashed out from behind the counter and waved me down on the street corner because she had just found another small package. “I am so silly,” she told me, as we went back inside. “I can’t believe I missed that. This should save you another trip.”

OK, I’ll be back to that pharmacy if I need anything!

Give the mobile phone a rest when in a restroom for goodness sake!

It appears that there are simply NO boundaries anymore for engaging in mobile phone conversations. One of our team recently called an executive at a company and noticed an odd echo to the phone call. Hoping for the best and trying to make light, she commented, “You’re not in a bathroom, are you?”

To which he responded (frankly, sounded a tad sheepish), “Well, as a matter of fact, I am just exiting one.”

Trying not to lose focus, our reporter proceeded interviewing this gentleman. Never did he say, “I’ll call you back,” and the entire time, our reporter had to admit, she was trying to type while dealing with a visual of a man holding the phone in one hand and his, well, assets in the other. She almost offered to call him back in a few but figured if he were game, she had to be. And, despite the comment about “exiting,” the distinct hollow echo of a tiled bathroom continued through the call.

This mobile-phone urgency nonsense is getting out of, umm, hand if you’ll excuse the pun! Recently, in airport and in company bathrooms around the country, our team has encountered men and women arguing via a phone with a spouse, debating how to handle a sales call with a challenging client, telling off a secretary, and even wishing a young one good night. We’ve heard tales of sales reps and company executives rolling up sleeves and desperately fishing out phones inadvertently dunked into a toilet – those are phones that have now seen better days and are surely left well enough alone, we would surmise.

And this nonsense is not just limited to traditional phone calls either. Not so very long ago, during an Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, one of our intrepid SNEWS® reporters, while trying to maintain men’s room etiquette by staring at the tile directly in front of him, could not help but notice a very energetic person standing right next to him, conducting business with both hands – yes, he was staring intently into a Blackberry that was dangerously close to infringing on our reporter’s personal space. Even more stunning, he was literally texting AND responding with the one hand while (our reporter presumes since he didn’t dare look) taking care of personal business with the other. You could hear the snickers as others noticed and walked over to the sinks shaking their heads.

People! Talking on a cell phone while taking a leak or conducting other such personal business in a toilet is both obnoxious and wrong (though sometimes highly humorous to everyone else in the bathroom, to be sure). And engaging in active text messaging while peeing is simply ludicrous.

We do point out that the word “restroom” begins with, yes, the word “rest.” Meaning, give your damn flip phones,so called smart phones, iPhones and Blackberries a rest for a few minutes too. Trust us on this one…you're really not so important that a few minutes off your phone in a bathroom will change the world one way or another.

Help, we’re buried in giveaways from trade shows…

With the summer trade show season right around the corner, we’d like to get something off our chests – a one-size-fits-none t-shirt. At the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, we wonder how many of those XL shirts given away at shows end up headed for Goodwill, for the rag bin, or worse, in the trash.

Often we hate to part with a shirt we’ve accepted because we love the company and likely love the message or image on the shirt itself. But when a shirt is so big one of our editors can fit four of her in it, and another finds the shirt down to his knees, there’s just no point.

Unfortunately, it appears far too many companies don’t think about the chatzkies and other thank-yous and promo gifts they hand out at shows or pop into press boxes and send out.

Don’t get us wrong: The thought of a gift is fantastic, and we find it is often hard to say “no” (even when it’s our fifth one-size-fits-none or 12th baseball hat or seventh bottle during the show). It’s the gesture that is so appreciated, of course.

The point of course is for somebody to use and wear whatever item is given away, both as a thank-you but also as additional promo for the company. You do want your message or name seen, or your product used, right? We understand that a t-shirt size selection is difficult but if you must rely on a huge batch of one-size-fits-none that really fits nobody why not look to choose something else instead? How many more poly-cotton t-shirts do most of us need anyway – even by those of us collecting coming-home gifts for the kids and spouse?

As an example of great giveaways, we were excited this spring when we attended a running race and, instead of a t-shirt (which we commonly turn down these days), we were given a baby tomato plant! Joyfully we plopped the baby into the car and it is now tall and hanging with green tomatoes. What a thoughtful concept that not only didn’t waste money, but also didn’t waste resources either. And, yummy, we have tomatoes to look forward to.

Which is why reusable tote bags were such a good idea – several years ago. But, now, we have two cars, the drawer by the front door, the car trunk, and the office filled with enough reusable bags to carry groceries home to the neighborhood. As a result, even an “eco” bag is now a waste.

What’s the solution? Get creative. Don’t just jump on a bandwagon. Find those special thank-you items that convey a message that will last long after the gift is given, and remains useful, or tasty, or entertaining, while at the same time not becoming so much clutter or waste. It’s a challenge, we know. But ball point pens, sticky notes, note pads, bottles of branded wine, pocket-sized flashlights, commemorative framed maps or photos are some of the more notable giveaways we’ve seen and even kept over the last several years.

Don’t just latch onto a gift idea simply because you think you have to give a gift though. You don’t, really. Sure, it’s appreciated, but not necessary. And if the gift you are giving is simply going to become so much added clutter or waste around the house or office, what is the point, really? As a result, don’t feel insulted if somebody at SNEWS® politely declines your promotional giveaway. We love you. We really do. But if we or an immediate family member can’t wear or use it, or we already have too many of it, then we’d rather say “No” and have somebody else take it home.

WS 100 endurance run observations: Product, privacy and sloshing packs

I was hanging out helping brain-dead runners summit the Devil’s Thumb climb in the Western States 100 last Saturday, June 27. It’s a nasty, rocky, 1,500 foot climb over 1.8 miles that comes for most in the hottest part of the day. And it was pretty hot, dry and dusty last weekend. As I escorted runner after runner from the top to the medical aid weigh-in, got their bottles and packs refilled, and made sure they were in OK shape for the remaining 52.2 miles, I found myself taking a look at the apparel, gear, food and product they all had. OK, SNEWS is sick. We are always looking at brands.

When it came to hydration, Nathan frankly ruled the day. After traditional hand-held bottles (mostly Nathan), the Nathan packs frankly came up the hill one after the other. We saw quite a few from the HPL series, especially the vest with just pockets on the front and a pocket across the back (HPL #028). But we also saw a few Ultimate Design’s, Amphipods, and just a teeny smattering of CamelBaks.

What struck me as an aid station volunteer filling bottles and packs was how much we all frankly cursed a couple of things:

>> the ancient Platypus reservoirs with a teeny screw cap opening AT THE BOTTOM of the pack that was impossible to get to and too teeny to get ice through. %^$))%&%*!
>> Amphipod curved bottles that wouldn’t stand up on the table to fill. ARRRGH!
>> antiquated reservoirs with small openings or even the totally out-dated UD roll-tops that were super difficult to fill (ultra runners do hang onto old gear, perhaps because they are just cheap?) GRRRRR!!

Between greeting runners, a few of us started nattering about our own dislikes while running and top of the list was sloshing reservoirs. We all had the habit of turning a pack upside down and trying to suck the air out of it so it wouldn’t slosh. I said aloud, gee, wouldn’t it be great if somebody came up with a de-sloosh or burping mechanism? (hint hint)

In other apparel observations: One runner, looked rather tattered, had on an a pair of long-ish shorts that had a great selection of low-set pockets. As I fetched his arm and looked him in the eye to see if he was OK, I said, “Great pockets on those shorts.” He popped to attention, turned to me and said, “Yeah! Patagonia!” Wow, that woke him up!

There was also a wide acceptance of electrolyte tabs that you drop into water, but not any tab --- rather, specifically Nuun tabs. They were fished out of packs and pockets and we obligingly dropped them into bottles. But in most cases not even a whole tab… Take note… Most wanted just a half-tab. Thank goodness they are easily split.

What else did we see that begged for invention?
>> Folks stick ice cubes UNDER their hats. Problem is, that melts too quickly. We’ve seen hats with pockets but often the rest of the hat kinda sucks and the pocket is too hard to get to. (Hint hint)
>> You can’t have enough pockets out there. And we need more shorts with nice big pockets that are low enough on your hips to accommodate also wearing a belt or pack. Too often the pockets are side-slit and that doesn’t work well or keep stuff in them. or they are teeny cute zippered things on the low of the back that are, frankly, pretty useless.
>> Better gaiters…With the dust and dirt, gaiters are mandatory but most are just not made for easy sleek wear and quick on and off… except Dirty Girl, which SNEWS has worn and reviewed. Forget systems where you have to have X shoe to go with X gaiter, since that’s too limited. We need ones that go with any shoe. Anybody?
>> Wicking shirts are dandy but in this sort of event you want to STAY wet and breathe. How well I know. I overheated in 2006 on my climb up to Devil’s Thumb, ended up with slight heat illness and nearly didn’t move on to the finish. I was wearing a nylon shirt that despite soaking it in the creek at the bottom had quickly dried. We need (heck, any gardener or others who go outside needs) shirts that have a high collar (or one that can flip up) with long baggy sleeves (perhaps with a mesh insert for venting) and the ability to leave it hanging or tie it up with a front that can be left open for more venting. How about it?

Of course, maybe we also need little privacy booths for some runners. I stumbled across a runner sitting in a chair behind the food tables and off the path when I went looking for my own water bottle. I asked him if he needed any help since he was sitting there with his shoes off and bandages and pins lying all around him. No, he said curtly. I said, well, if you have blisters, I bet the medical staff could help you out and get you out more quickly. “I want privacy,” he said glaring at me. Okey dokey then… I slithered away and wondered to myself how he managed to pee and take care of “other business” along a trail. Did he call his sherpas to set up a tent for him? After about 20 minutes we saw him still sitting and fiddling with his feet. Sadly, his number was not on the finishers’ list.

In other entertainment, local runner Bill Finkbeiner, 53, ambled in casually, looking tired but pretty together as he aimed for his 15th finish. Having run with him in the past, I knew he had a hidden talent: having memorized Pi to a few hundred decimals, which he will recite at a moment’s notice. For those of us who have better uses for quickly diminishing memory space, Pi is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space (I had to look that up). As he sponged off with his head dipped low over the ground, I walked up behind him and asked, “So, Bill, how many digits of Pi can you recite now?” Without hesitating the shortest of nano-seconds, he started rattling numbers as his head stayed low over the water bucket. At the end of a quick spew, he ended with a deep breath and announced for the gaping crowd: “…and that was 50.”

Not everybody is brain-dead when they get to Devil’s Thumb.

Note: In this year’s run, presented by Montrail, 238 of 399 starters finished for a relatively low rate of 59.6 percent. For those not in the know, the Western States 100 run starts at Squaw Valley and ends in Auburn, to the west and a number of valleys and mountains later. The trail ascends from the Squaw Valley floor (elevation 6,200 feet) to Emigrant Pass (elevation 8,750 feet), a climb of 2,550 vertical feet in the first 4½ miles. From the pass, following the original trails used by the gold and silver miners of the 1850’s, runners travel west, climbing another 15,540 feet and descending 22,970 feet before reaching Auburn. Most of the trail passes through remote and rugged territory, accessible only to hikers, horses and helicopters.

In memoriam: Dan Moores, owner of the Auburn Running Company store in the finish city of the race and a two-time race finisher, passed away June 24 after a seven-month battle with leukemia. Moores, who had opened the store in 2004 and whose face and business became a hallmark for area runners, finished the run in 2006 and 2007. He was feeling better after a bone marrow transplant but the cancer came back in late May. He will be sadly missed.