Despite being around for greater than a decade, Lloyd Vogel said his outdoor gear store is a comparatively hidden gem in St. Paul, getting perhaps 10 in-store shoppers a day.

Garage Grown Gear makes a speciality of ultralight outdoor equipment. It doesn’t sell Patagonia, North Face or Marmot. Nearly all of its inventory comes from small businesses or “cottage brands,” as co-founder and CEO Vogel calls them.

Ultralight backpacking takes a minimalist approach to climbing with the lightest equipment possible, and operates on the concept the journey to your destination doesn’t need to be uncomfortable.

This implies lightweight backpacks, cooking equipment and poop trowels. Ultralight backpackers know what they need for his or her adventures and what they’ll leave behind, and are comfortable with creating their very own solutions.

The minimalist approach is reflected within the business model.

Many of the brands stocked at Garage Grown Gear are from very small businesses that don’t even consider themselves as “brands,” Vogel said. Some are from only a single revolutionary person making a product to share with fellow ultralight enthusiasts.

“Our manufacturers are people who find themselves sewing fanny packs of their basement,” Vogel said.

Cottage makers

Such is the case for Hartford Gear Co., which sells lightweight pouches to Garage Grown Gear. Based in Hartford, Conn., the brand is run by Georgia Wetmore, who sews as much as 500 pouches a month for Garage Grown Gear.

Enlightened Equipment, an organization that sells ultralight sleeping quilts and insulated apparel, began similarly in Minnesota and has grown to an 85-person staff.

Based in Winona, Enlightened Equipment was began by Tim Marshall in 2011 when he began sewing sleeping quilts, that are like sleeping bags but more versatile and light-weight, in his basement.

Chris Schabow, CEO of Enlightened Equipment, said the corporate sells some 15,000 sleeping quilts a yr.

Around 3% of Enlightened Equipment’s sales come from Garage Grown Gear, Schabow said, adding that the community fostered by the St. Paul store is something their brand is proud to be an element of.

“People know in the event that they get on Garage Grown Gear’s website, the products are vetted and so they can’t go fallacious,” Schabow said.

‘Not a tailored REI experience’

Vogel said nearly all of Garage Grown Gear’s sales come from web shoppers and individuals are often shocked after they stop by the physical store.

Situated at 2380 Wycliff St. Suite 140, Garage Grown Gear “is just not a tailored REI experience,” Vogel said. As a substitute, it looks more like a warehouse spanning 5,000-square-feet with inventory stacked to the ceiling.

You won’t find any climbing partitions, traditional displays and even barcodes on the products, but when you’ve got the time to hunt around you may discover greater than 900 different products from 215 brands.

The brands and products sold at Garage Grown Gear come from across the country, but Vogel said they make an effort to have as many Minnesota and midwestern brands as they’ll.

From Minnesota, the shop stocks Granite Gear backpacks from Two Harbors, Trailtopia food packs from Rochester and Northern Coffeeworks from Minneapolis, to call a couple of.

Garage grown growth

Although foot traffic is lacking, Vogel said business is booming online with 10,000 visits to the web site a day.

The shop’s largest sales come from Washington, Colorado, Oregon and California, but Minnesota is slowly climbing the ranks, Vogel said, adding that about 10% of the corporate’s sales are international.

This time last yr, Garage Grown Gear had five employees. Now with a team of 18, Vogel said they fill between 200 and 300 orders a day and are quickly outgrowing their warehouse.

Vogel said he attributes a number of the shop’s success to the little competition there may be on this current area of interest. Outdoor gear retailer Midwest Mountaineering closed up shop in Minneapolis this yr after greater than 50 years in  business.

By partnering with other small businesses, Garage Grown Gear is capable of offer products that buyers would otherwise not find out about, while also providing visibility for business owners who are sometimes running their business alone.

“What can we do for Patagonia that they’ll’t do for themselves?” Vogel asked. Whereas brands like Hartford Gear, which doesn’t have its own marketing departments, can get known from gear reviews, giveaways, email lists and social media through Garage Grown Gear.

Ultralight backpacking, which has historically been popular amongst young, lively adults, is starting to choose up steam within the retiree crowd, with older backpackers discovering the advantage of lightweight equipment, Vogel said.

With more people becoming serious about ultralight recreation and the web store doing well, Vogel said they’re opening a conventional brick-and-mortar storefront as early as next summer.

“Backpacking culture is small but mighty,” he said.

Garage Grown Gear’s bestsellers:

• 2L Vecto water container from CNOC Outdoors
• Ultralight trowel from BoglerCo
• Pack liner from Nylofume
• Ultralight hoodie from Farpointe Outdoor Gear
• Fuel transfer device from FlipFuel