“I don't really buy into the idea that gear makes you faster or stronger, but good gear can make you more comfortable and confident.”
Last year, Bentonville-native Kelsey Miller set out to bring quality consignment to local outdoor enthusiasts. Her idea, Sturdy Used Gear, began as a monthly pop-up, but her proof-of-concept year boosted next steps for taking her small business up a notch.
“One of the weirdest things about learning small business is that no one's telling you what to do. There's nothing unless I make it.”
After gleaning some support and mentorship through the GORP program, Miller invested in a brick-and-mortar location near J Street and Walton Boulevard.
“Part of my desire to have this store in Bentonville is to keep outdoors affordable for everybody,” she explains. “But also, many of us have a closet of gear that we used once and could sell.”
With a “counter-culture” mentality, Miller opened Sturdy as a one-woman show, applying her personal and professional experiences with outdoor gear to evaluate, price, and present premium brands–like Rapha, Patagonia, Arc’teryx, and Marmot–without the ego.
According to Miller, the Sturdy consignment process should be as easy as dropping your things off and getting paid.
“I'll go through it first to do a quick yes or no. I comb through everything to make sure things like the zippers work, or all the poles for the tent are accounted for. For the items we keep to sell, you get a percentage of what it sold for.”
For clothes and gear under $300, Sturdy offers a 50-50 split. For items over $600, the seller keeps 70 percent. Every 30 days the item is marked down, but after 120 days, the seller can pick it up or donate the item to the store.
“A lot of the point of the store is the general expertise. Facebook Marketplace is really the only other option, and there's no situation where I personally would meet up to try on someone's cycling jersey they were selling for $20.”
Sturdy’s storefront opened June 20th, and word spread quickly. Miller says equipment like paddle boards sell quickly, but she aims to fill Sturdy's “Garage” room with more kayaks, bikes, camping equipment, and parts. On the opposite side of the store, men’s and women’s casual and active apparel, gear bags, and shoes are neatly organized by style and size, with a space for children’s inventory to grow.
Sturdy Used Gear is open Wednesday through Sunday. Visit sturdyusedgear.com for hours and follow @sturdyusedgear on Instagram for updates.
Outdoor rec is part of what makes Bentonville so cool, but that desirability has made it expensive.