Sportago kicks off in Sebastopol
Why this St. Helena classic chose Sebastopol for its second location
Sportago, a longtime outdoor clothing and equipment store based in St. Helena, opened a second store in Sebastopol at the end of May. The store is owned by Ahren Trumble and Joel Radke, and it’s an interesting case study of how a small local business can succeed in a market segment dominated by large players like REI.
Sportago (pronounced “sport-uh-go”) was founded in St. Helena in 1983 by Christine Patrick. Trumble began working there as a sales clerk over 26 years ago.
“I came back from college and didn’t know what I wanted to do and started working there,” he said. “Soon I became the manager. The prior owner, who is obviously a mentor of mine, always knew that she wanted a succession plan, and she made it really easy for me to come in, and that worked great. Then Joel was our manager for 15 years, and then when Chris finally stepped aside and retired, Joel came in as my partner, so we just continued the legacy.”
Trumble said they’d been looking for a second location for three years. Why did they choose Sebastopol?
“I love the town! I live in western Santa Rosa, so this is like our backyard. It’s where we go to eat and spend a lot of our time,” said Trumble. “My wife works for Ceres Community Project so she has been involved in the community here for a while. It’s also a very active and environmentally-minded town, which is really important to us, as well, being a Patagonia dealer. That’s a large part of what we’re here to do.”
Trumble said that although St. Helena is a tourist town, 70% of their business there comes from locals, and he’s hoping the same will hold true in Sebastopol.
“Speaking to other business owners in town, we just got the idea that the locals here are very invested in the town,” he said, “and they want to support local business, which is huge for us. That’s what we rely on.”
Trumble said Sportago started out in the eighties as a tennis- and ski-wear store, but that it’s evolved over the years into a more general outdoor-clothing and accessories store.
“We’re just trying to support people being outdoors, whatever that means,” Trumble said. “Is it camping? Is it running? Is it just walking the dog? I would consider us very much on the soft side of the outdoor industry, so you know we’re not doing climbing stuff, we’re not doing ski or mountaineering things; we’re just doing clothing and accessories that make it more comfortable to do whatever you’re doing in the outdoors.”
“Being a small store, we can really curate that selection,” Trumble said.
His partner, Joel Radke, expanded on that. “We carry clothing that you wear every day—that’s convenient for you to travel with, go camping with, and stuff that’s durable and easy to care for. That’s the kind of brands that we look for.”
Radke said the store carries brands like Patagonia, KÜHL, Royal Robbins, as well as women-specific brands like Indeva and Krimson Klover and men’s swimwear by Cova. They also have a small but nicely curated selection of shoes for running and light hiking, as well as some handsome around-town boots.
When Trumble says his store caters to locals, he means that literally, and there was something so sweetly small-town about his description.
“When we go to trade shows and stuff, oftentimes we buy for specific people—customers that we’ve known for a long time—and we’re like ‘Paul would love this shirt! We have to bring this in.’”
Their inventory goes far beyond outdoor clothing, however, and includes day packs, water bottles, water treatment equipment, sleeping bags, even tents.
Trumble and Radke are both outdoor enthusiasts and practice what they preach, er, sell. Trumble enjoys backpacking, and Radke is into ultra-running, which he defined as “anything longer than marathon, which is 26 miles.”
Radke said they’re planning to do a grand opening celebration in August. Although the store has just been open for five weeks, he said they’ve gotten a good response from the community.
“They’re happy that we’re here,” he said, “and people are like, ‘Oh, now we don’t have to drive into Santa Rosa anymore!’”
Sportago is located at 135 S. Main St, Sebastopol. You can find them online at sportago.com.