A Public display of affection
This is not a paid advertisement. I receive no money or swag from Patagonia, nor do I have Yvon Chouinard’s cell number. I have no ties, official or otherwise, to Patagonia, the Great Pacific Iron Works or Lost Arrow. In many ways, a retail store is a retail store, and one company is pretty much like another.
But there is something different about Patagonia. Their products are among the best outdoor clothing and gear ever made; they make nothing that doesn’t command instant respect. Their business practices are impeccable, they provide funding to some of the most interesting and important environmental issues on the go. When you walk through their retail stores, you are instantly struck by the overall level of quality that is on display at every turn.
I was in Ventura this past weekend and I had the chance to go to their flagship store for a quick visit. It’s hard to find anything to say about the experience other than what I gushed about in the last paragraph. There is history there – there are stunning photos on the walls from catalogs of years past and the old iron shop is out back, right near where the Fletcher boards get shaped. And that makes me want to talk up the surf shop, just up the block, in an old quonset hut stocked with a hundred or more of the best boards on the planet.
Yeah, I’m a believer. Not a paid mouthpiece, but a believer nonetheless.
About Ken Campbell
New Release
A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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