“Give credit where credit is due.” Though Backcountry.com’s mom may have taught no other manners, she definitely hammered this one home. And since the online retailer of high-end outdoor gear would be nothing without high-end outdoor gear, it’s only appropriate to give a big shout out to the companies that make and market the goods.

That’s why, at its annual rowdy (and non-mom-friendly) Adventure Party on Oct. 4, Backcountry.com will give much deserved props to its 2008 Vendors of the Year: Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. and Patagonia.

“Our vendors are our partners. When they go over and above business-as-usual when working with us, we definitely take notice,” said Jeff Snyder, VP of Merchandising at Backcountry.com.

Backcountry acknowledges one hard goods and one soft goods vendor each year. To select the Vendors of the Year, Backcountry.com’s buyers consider each of their partners’ brand-generated customer relationship, year-over-year sales, GMROI, inventory availability, and marketing support.

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Success of initial exploration of bike space leads to a total of four sites dedicated to bike market

PARK CITY, Utah (Sept. 16th, 2008 )–The e-commerce roughnecks at Backcountry.com weren’t sure what they would find when they started wildcatting about the hinterlands of the bike industry in early June 2007 when they tossed high-end road and mountain product into their Backcountry.com mix and then launched Chainlove.com, their ODAT-style close-out site dedicated to bikes, bike components and accessories. But when bike product sales erupted on Backcountry.com and Chainlove.com’s traffic hit 1 million unique visits in its first month of operation, Backcountry.com realized they had struck gold. Now, Backcountry.com has announced plans to further bore into bicycle territory with the launch of two new high-end, bike-specific web sites and one ODAT site by Spring 2009.

Backcountry.com’s future bike lineup will include a new site focusing on the premium high-end road market, and another focusing on the premium high-end mountain-bike market. In addition, Backcountry.com will launch a One Deal at a Time (ODAT)-style close-out site for the road market, while repositioning Chainlove.com to focus on moving close-out mountain bike gear.

Backcountry.com’s Bike Merchandise Division Manager, John Thomas, said that it was Backcountry.com’s customers and the overwhelming success of bike products in the Backcountry.com mix that gave them the opportunity to expand their bike retail channels.

“Initially we were unsure of how bike would perform. But our bike push really tapped into a pent-up demand for middle to high-end, full MSRP product offerings. Sales and conversion were both higher than expected and Chainlove.com had the fastest rate of adoption that we’ve had for any of our other category-specific sites. Yeah, we noticed.”

Thomas attributes the company’s success in the bike market to the same focus that took Backcountry.com from a $2,000 start-up investment to $200 million in annual sales in just 10 years: customer service, product selection and superior content. Plus, the bike lines have benefited from the support of forward-thinking bike brands looking for a dynamic web presence, such as Titus, Intense, and Litespeed, Shimano, Mavic, Fox, and Giro/Bell. Backcountry.com currently carries more than 130 bike brands.

Backcountry.com will leverage the same customer-centric programs in the bike market as they have in their other categories, including their money back guarantee, same day shipping, 24 hour in-house live chat and phone support and a 240,000 square foot warehouse stocked with technical gear and experts. All of this infrastructure is unmatched in the bike industry.

But Thomas admits that they are far from being embraced by the industry.

“In the bike industry, we’re hearing a lot of the same reluctance from vendors that we heard from outdoor brands when we started in business: We’ll lose our dealers, bastardize our brand, kill customer service but show me an example–in any industry–of a leading brand going online and losing sales overall. Furthermore, relative to other consumer markets, the sporting goods category is still early in the curve of online shopping adoption. The online channel is only going to grow. The customers want you to be online.”

Thomas said he understands some of the push-back he’s been getting. “The industry has a bad taste in its mouth because selling bikes online has been price driven. We will change that.”

Brand names and associated URLs for the sites have not been finalized, but Backcountry.com will support this expansion with a variety of marketing initiatives in 2009 to support the industry and build brand-name awareness within the market. Backcountry.com’s bike buying team will be out in force at Interbike.

About Backcountry.com:
Backcountry.com is an online retailer of performance outdoor adventure gear and apparel. The e-commerce site carries more than 400 brands in various categories, including biking, backpacking, camping, hiking, climbing, trail running, paddling, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and adventure travel. Backcountry.com also operates BackcountryOutlet.com, SteepandCheap.com, Dogfunk.com, Tramdock.com, WhiskeyMilitia.com and Chainlove.com.

Athletes? Affiliates? Backcountry.com says…Both.

Jonny Atencio comes on to manage the online retailer’s new team program, instantly signs Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and Ingrid Backstrom for Tramdock.com team.

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	CONTACT: Mike Geraci Base Camp Communications Office - (307) 734-7575 Cell - >(307) 413-0114 mgeraci@basecampcomm.com

Whiskey Militia Saves Summer

In about 6 weeks, school is out for the summer. Freedom. Sleep until well after the ‘rents have left for work, scarf a bowl of whatever, hit up the crew and make a plan for the day, all day. Unless you have a job, and you probably do—because while your skate video has more than 5000 views on YouTube, that fat sponsorship deal hasn’t materialized even though your buddy knows the team manager’s girlfriend’s sister, and after paying for that last emergency room visit for the broken wrist, your parents cut you off and refuse to kick down for the decks, new shoes, new wet suit, the wardrobe upgrades…and all the other paraphernalia you need to make summer as dope as possible.

It’s called the summer bummer. The job. Working for some chump just to get a little pocket change to keep you fed and stocked. Flipping burgers or digging ditches just so you can afford a new wetty or board puts a serious dent in the summer plans. But short of shoplifting, panhandling or that elusive sponsorship deal, what else can you do?

Now, there’s a legit option. It’s almost as cheap as shoplifting and you won’t get pinched by rent-a-cops. WhiskeyMilitia.com

Here’s how it works: Every night at midnight (MST) the Whiskey Militia crew will drop one stupidly marked down deal (at least 50% below retail) on a new piece of gear for skateboarding, surfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, BMX or Freeride. That deal is good until midnight the next day or until it sells out. One deal a day. Hit it quick, ’cause once it’s gone you’re SOL.

It might not have everything you want every day, but if you check it daily, there’s a good chance you’ll find a killer deal on some stuff you need or know you’ll need soon. In the first month we’ve sold out deals from Darkstar, Zoo York, Nixon, DC, Volcom, Globe, Rip Curl, Electric, Element, C1RCA, Pig, Foundation, and more. We know people.

Join the Whiskey Militia today at www.whiskeymilitia.com, get cool stuff, save summer.

The Liberty Media Corporation.

From Jim’s note to the company:

“John and I remain significant investors in Backcountry.com and we will remain in our positions. Liberty is an appealing partner for many reason, but first and foremost we liked the approach they use where they leave companies like ours to run ourselves. They don’t intend to make any personnel changes and they won’t be sending any employees or managers to us; no suits roaming the halls. The company will run just as it has, with the same people and the same goals and vision. Liberty’s management team loves where we’re going and they’re psyched to help us get there.”

PARK CITY, Utah  - It’s not all fun and games at the web’s leading specialty outdoor retailer, only during powder cycles and when it’s time to publish the yearly sales numbers.

This is a little review of Backcountry.com’s 2006. Somewhere in here is the info on our 2006 sales results (an extra credit question). It’s an open-internet quiz, and, in keeping with the founder’s straight C average performance through high school and college…score a 70% or better and win an organic cotton Backcountry.com t-shirt or other goodies.

We hope this pop quiz gives you a better understanding of the highs and lows of the last year. As always, all questions and comments encouraged…and thanks for your interest in Backcountry.com.

Point your browser here to take the quiz.

About Backcountry.com:
With offices in Park City, Utah and Salt Lake City, Utah, Backcountry.com (http://www.Backcountry.com) is an e-commerce business that sells performance gear for backcountry excursions, including backpacking, climbing, skiing, snowboarding, trail running and adventure travel. Backcountry.com also operates BackcountryOutlet.com, Dogfunk.com, Tramdock.com, and SteepandCheap.com.

The company has been recognized three times as a Top 50 “Best of the Best” business by Internet Retailer Magazine. They are listed as one of the top 25 outdoor retailers by Outdoor Business, and ranked as the 93rd largest sporting goods retailer in the United States by Sporting Goods Business Magazine.

Sweet.

Read all about it Here:

“Backcountry.com’s approach has always been to provide the highest quality gear on the planet: clothing and equipment that does the job simply and expertly. That tradition continues with the introduction of Backcountry.com’s first pieces of Goat label apparel: the Cairn fleece and the Shift softshell.”