Hidden Gems: Meet Jen and Chase LaCroix of Durango Outdoor Exchange

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen and Chase LaCroix.

Hi Jen and Chase, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We started Durango Outdoor Exchange in September 2014 after visiting a similar shop in another mountain town and wishing we had one in our community. We felt inspired by the sustainability practice that is inherent in giving gear a second life as well as creating a lower price point for customers to enter a new outdoor activity.

Living in a beautiful mountain town can often be expensive as are the activities that make it enjoyable to live here. If we could provide a business model that both reused gear and allowed folks to get outside for less, we knew could consider it a success and be fulfilled in our business’ mission. We identified community, adventure, and environment as our guiding values and stay true to those today, after nine years in business.

We started small and quickly felt the pent-up demand for this type of business. There was and continues to be a plethora of gear and outdoor apparel in Durango and customers and consignors were supportive from the beginning. We outgrew our first location within the first few years and moved into (and remodeled) the existing Pizza Hut building in 2019.

Although the space still fills up at times, this spot is our forever home and our business has benefitted from the location customers enjoy ample parking, a rarity in our town!

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our biggest struggle (and a great problem to have, really) is more gear and apparel coming our way than we can realistically display or sell.

We are grateful every day for the continued support and do our very best to accommodate all the gear we can while keeping prices realistic as well as a reasonable quality standard.

As outdoor gear becomes more expensive in a traditional retail setting, pricing older used gear can also be a tricky expectation to address. We work with a few different factors to find what we feel is a reasonable and realistic price to get gear sold.

We’ve been impressed with Durango Outdoor Exchange, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Durango Outdoor Exchange strives to be a gear store for everyone. We hope you feel a sense of community and place the minute you walk through the door. Whether you are brand new to a sport and looking for guidance or just in for your weekly check on sweet used gear finds, we are so happy you’re here. We are thankful for every customer and consignor and feel lucky we get to continue growing in our dream jobs and a business that serves our community of locals and visitors alike.

We believe in the consignment model we use and appreciate the transparency and trust it provides to our valued consignors. We are proud of our ongoing commitment to our guiding values of community, adventure, and environment. Some would say Durango Outdoor Exchange is already a sustainable business because we sell used outdoor gear, but we wanted to do even better, so we dug deeper into our values and made some key decisions which included installing solar panels the first year in our new location, adding an electric car charger in 2022 and have recently been awarded a Platinum Level Green Business certification by the Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency.

We carry a variety of new gear as well to meet each customer’s needs. We are mindful of bringing in new gear that compliments our offerings of used gear. You’ll find Wells Lamont, Atomic, Atlas, Scott, Peregrine, and Kelty just to name a few of our trusted brand partners.

Any big plans?
In the future years, we intend to continue to dial in our processes and procedures, increasing the quality of gear and apparel we offer and building upon the gear knowledge among staff.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.durangooutdoorexchange.com
• Instagram: @dgooutdoorexchange

Image Credits
Eppich Photography