Exploration Local
Come journey with us as we explore and highlight the people and places that make the Blue Ridge and Southern Appalachian Mountains special and unique. We explore the towns, trails, rivers, scenic byways, businesses, and people that fuel the life & adventurous spirit in these mountains. Listen in on this relaxed conversational style podcast as host Mike Andress interviews Authors, Business Owners, Photographers, Athletes, Adventurers, Travelers and Friends who have a deep connection to the outdoors and directly influence the culture of the Blue Ridge. We’ll even explore the many ways nature & the outdoors can positivity influence our health and well being.
Exploration Local
Rising Above the Storm: The Resilience and Community Spirit Behind Second Gear's Revival
What if the unexpected storm of the century could teach us about resilience and community strength? Join us for an extraordinary conversation with Russ Towers, the inspiring co-founder of Second Gear, as he recounts the tumultuous journey of his Asheville-based outdoor gear and consignment shop. From humble beginnings in West Asheville to a major expansion in the River Arts District, Second Gear thrived on blending new and used outdoor equipment. But when Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in 2024, it threatened everything Russ and his team had built. Discover how they turned disaster into determination, securing a new location and reopening just in time for the holiday season with the help of passionate community support.
Russ shares the emotional aftermath of the hurricane, highlighting the extraordinary resilience and adaptability that emerged amidst chaos. With community allies like Explore Asheville and the Chamber of Commerce, the business found unexpected sources of strength and aid. Learn how the power of teamwork, strategic partnerships, and a successful GoFundMe campaign allowed them to navigate financial challenges and maintain operations. Russ's stories of optimism and perseverance underscore the unyielding spirit of small businesses and the essential role of community support in overcoming adversity.
Amidst the trials, there were unexpected positives that arose from this challenge, including heartwarming tales of generosity and unity. Russ reflects on the profound impact of a simple wooden angel figurine, symbolizing hope and continuity. By embracing their community's support and rekindling their mission to provide affordable outdoor experiences, Second Gear has not only survived but thrived. Let our conversation remind you of the power of local exploration and the solidarity that can help businesses rise above adversity. Join us in celebrating the enduring spirit of resilience and the heart of a community-driven business.
Mike Andress
Host, Exploration Local
828-551-9065
mike@explorationlocal.com
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In this episode, I sit down with Russ Towers, co-founder and co-owner of Second Gear, an outdoor gear and consignment shop with deep roots in Asheville, north Carolina. Russ takes us on a journey through the highs and lows of building and growing Second Gear, from its beginnings in West Asheville in 2004, to its expansion into Asheville's River Arts District in 2021. But what truly sets this story apart is the incredible resilience and perseverance Russ and his team demonstrated in the face of a major catastrophe. In September 2024, hurricane Helene brought devastating floods that decimated their building, threatening to erase nearly two decades of hard work. Yet even in the aftermath of such destruction, second Gear found strength in their community and, with quick thinking and strategic partnerships, they managed to reopen in a new location just in time for the holiday season. In this episode, rush shares how the Second Gear team overcame incredible challenges, the lessons they've learned and the unwavering support they received from their loyal customers. Unwavering support they receive from their loyal customers. You'll also hear about Second Gear's unique consignment model, how they've adapted to changing seasons and the stories of generosity that help them rebuild. Tune in for this powerful conversation about the heart of small business, the importance of community and the spirit of resilience that can help you rise above, even in the most difficult circumstances.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you're here. I'll see you on the other side. You're listening to Exploration Local, a podcast designed to explore and celebrate the people and places that make the Blue Ridge and Southern Appalachian Mountains special and unique. My name is Mike Andrus, the host of Exploration Local. Join us on our journey to explore these mountains and discover how they fuel a spirit of adventure. We encourage you to wander far, but explore local, let's go. I'm honored to be able to share a little bit of the story of Second Gear. You all do a great job in all your socials. Yeah, you're very welcome. You all do a great job in all your socials. Yeah, you're very welcome. You all do a great job in all your socials, and I've learned so much about your story that I didn't know before. But I just want to thank you for coming in and I can't wait to dive into this. Russ.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Mike. Yeah, it's amazing how a natural disaster will give you exposure that you didn't think you'd have or weren't expecting.
Speaker 1:So yeah, but we're going to roll with it. Well, as we get started here, for people that don't know Second Gear, you are located in Asheville. You were located in the River Arch District. Just for the listeners that don't know who you are, a little bit about the background of Second Gear, sure.
Speaker 2:Second Gear was started in 2004, and we opened up in West Asheville on Haywood Road. We were up there for 17 years. It's a consignment-focused outdoor adventure store, so a little twist on outdoor retailing where we're selling used gear, equipment, apparel, footwear, along with some new items as well. So it's a mix of new and used. When we first started out it was kind of all used. It was a very small footprint. We were in 1,100 square feet to start. We grew into a bigger space 2,000 feet, eventually 4,000 square feet, had a downtown store and a West Asheville store.
Speaker 2:Through the years we had some great success on Haywood Road and really outgrew our space. Last few years and back in during COVID we kind of reached a tipping point where we just can't, it's not sustainable anymore in this size space. So we're really attracted to the River Arts District with all the energy that was down there and a mixed event at that point of breweries and artists and some restaurants and outdoor activity and we just thought that would be a great place for us and we could find a big enough space. So we moved, thought that would be a great place for us and we could find a big enough space, so we moved into that 10,000 square foot building in September of 21. We spent almost a year upfitting it, renovating it for our use, designed everything down to the square foot. I spent 18 months on that project. So we were there three years to the month when the storm hit.
Speaker 1:So I love to just kind of hear your perspective as a co-founder, a part owner and somebody who just invested 18 months of your life, like you just said, right down to every little detail.
Speaker 2:What was?
Speaker 1:that like Russ.
Speaker 2:My home's nearby. So I had eyes on what was going on before, during and after. We had water up to that building on Thursday morning from all the rain Wednesday night which we have seen that before. I wasn't expecting it Thursday morning when I pulled up. So we had to go to a plan B. We had planned to get some things out of the store. So we had to go to a plan B. We had planned to get some things out of the store. We had a truck rented but we didn't have time and that U I've told several people, I've said this several times that it was bizarre.
Speaker 2:It was surreal. It was like watching a disaster movie and you're in the movie, you're the star of the movie. You know, by Friday afternoon when things had, you know the weather had cleared and the water is still rising and it's almost all the way up to the top of the building and there's TV crews there. It was just, it was bizarre. And then you know seeing, once the debris hit and the building started collapse.
Speaker 2:It was hard, it was hard to watch, but at the same time I was trying to keep perspective of, ok, this looks really bad, but it's just stuff and, uh, a lot of the huge stuff that people have kind of moved on from. It's not anybody's home and at this point, like on Friday, saturday, you really don't know the extent kind of region wide about all the the death and destruction hadn't hurt too much of that. But I was again trying to keep perspective that nobody's hurt, it's not somebody's home, it's a business and that hurt from a business standpoint. My initial reaction was wow, is this 20 years of work down the drain? Within the first couple of days or so when I could get cell service and start talking to my management team, it was also good news to learn that we had 18 employees at the time, counting myself, and that everybody was okay. So nobody had any significant damage to their homes, so everybody was safe. So I don't want to sound like I was just focused on the building.
Speaker 1:What was going on down the river, but then obviously you're going to go to the people the people whose lives are now affected, because it's not just yours, it's 18 other people whose lives are affected as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then comes the new opportunity. So it's not all lost. There are a lot of companies and businesses who have lost and they're still not open. But it sounds like you were able to kind of move along and you had some things that just came to be sort of kind of fell in your lap, just some really golden moments here.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, and pretty quickly right off the bat. If there's a silver lining to the amount of damage that the building sustained was that it was very apparent right off the bat Once the water went down you could see all the debris that hit and the collapse that you know, even before I could get on the ground to see it that we're not going to be able to go back in some debt that we had from, you know, a COVID EIDL loan, and so just a lot of momentum going. So it never really. There was never really the thought of, well, I guess we're going to close. It was well, how do we find the path forward? I went to that mode pretty quickly and I think that also helped me not grieve and not get too bogged down with oh, woe was me, woe was second gear and I guess, in an also strange way, being down on that bridge initially and seeing the extent of the damage and realizing, okay, it's not just us or you know it's how extensive the damage was, that there were a lot of businesses that were going to be impacted and so it kind of didn't in some ways feel as bad like we were the one victim. It was there going to be a lot of a lot of pain here with a lot of businesses. So I think all of that kind of helped me and my team to move forward.
Speaker 2:We pivoted really quickly and I right off the bat, you know, thought about the former Frugal Backpacker space up in the Westgate Shopping Center and that had been vacant since COVID and Will Gay, the owner of Frugal Backpacker, has been a longtime consigner with Second Gear. So it's very Asheville how Asheville's interconnected in supporting different businesses. So through an investment partner that I have, austin Walker, who's a broker, we were real estate brokers together. We started looking at properties and looked at that, really kind of zeroed in on the frugal backpacker space and that location was particularly appealing because, as I mentioned, we have hundreds of consignors that are coming from all over. So it was really important for us, I thought, to stay centrally located and not too far from where we were so it would be accessible for people coming from all different directions. Also wanted to be not too far from the downtown area and a lot of visitors stay downtown and knew that eventually tourism would come back.
Speaker 2:It would be back, yeah, and we wanted to be accessible to those folks because a lot of people would find us. Even though they would drive by and find us, whether it was Haywood Road in the past or Riverside in the last three years, a lot of people still find us through just a Google search or they're visiting friends and family. So we knew we were going to be giving up some of that drive-by tourist exposure but trading it for being centrally located, being in a shopping center, being accessible, being near Earth Fare and other businesses in that shopping center. I think most people in the Asheville area know that shopping center pretty well, so it felt very very comfortable going there.
Speaker 1:What was the support that you were experiencing throughout the community along this time?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah. Well, right off the bat, vic Isley and the Explore Asheville team opened up their offices to small businesses to operate because they had internet service, they had electricity, they had port-a-johns. The Chamber of Commerce also opened up their space and SBA came in. They were housed there with some of their disaster support. So those two organizations, particularly right off the bat, were critical. I didn't have power or internet at my home so I was able to really get the ball rolling on our you know path forward working out of there and my staff was able to. The recovery team was able. We were able to meet there. So we did that for the first couple three weeks working out of Explore Asheville. As I mentioned, we started a out of Explore Asheville, as I mentioned, we started a GoFundMe account and raised over several weeks. $40,000 was our goal. We hit that.
Speaker 2:We reached out to our consignors because you know we had sold stuff in September but we didn't have revenue coming in after that and we gave consignors the option of maybe either foregoing their payment for September that we owed them or donating it back, or foregoing it or deferring it. A lot of people donated it or just said don't worry about paying us. Some people deferred. And then same way with items that were lost. Because we lost 100%, mike, of everything. We lost all of our fixtures, inventory, equipment, supplies 100% loss, including all the consigned items.
Speaker 2:And so we also reached out to those consignors and many of them said you know, don't worry about it, just as a side note, a lot of businesses in the quite a few businesses I've read did not have flood insurance. We had flood insurance on our contents. You had to balance what's, what can you afford? How much do you think you need we? We lost twice as much as we had coverage for and that that claim is still outstanding. Okay, and you know, I I was also fortunate we have six own, six shareholders, six owners in the business that we put some capital in and basically made a loan to the business. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have been able to reopen. If we were waiting on this insurance claim to get back on our feet, we wouldn't be open right now. And I've heard that other businesses are in the same boat, that they have outstanding claims, and the adjuster we were working with was working on over 150 claims.
Speaker 2:So, it's frustrating, but I also kind of understand that they're probably overloaded with the amount of claims because of the extent of how big this disaster was and how widespread.
Speaker 1:Yeah, before we get into your new space, I'd love to kind of stay here just a little bit longer. I'd like to kind of talk about the mindset a little bit. I know you had the infusion of the cash and you had the other co-investors that were able to help bolster and shore up a little bit, but just the mindset in general, because it takes more than just the money.
Speaker 1:There's got to be the mindset too, I think and I don't want to project anything on you that isn't real but how important was that? How important was your mindset of saying we are going to be, this isn't the end, we are going to move forward? I just to give them the confidence that we don't have all the answers right now.
Speaker 2:We don't know how this is going to play out, but we're going to figure out a path forward. This business is too well supported, too strong and too well loved and you all like working here and I want to support you. I want to support this business. We're going to figure out a way to do this and we did so, and it wasn't just me figuring that out. That was, you know, vendors working with us. That was guys on our team. You know that was other people on our team reaching out to all those consignors and doing the GoFundMe, doing all those things that made it work.
Speaker 2:But just having confidence, because I guess also 20 years in business, I felt like there's no reason this shouldn't continue on. And also being inspired by other businesses, whether they're in Asheville or other places in the outdoor industry, that have been around 30, 40, 50 years, why not us? I mean, why I'm not going to let it in this way. I'm not going to let a disaster in this. People are going to want to come back to Asheville. Asheville is very outdoor, focused Western North Carolina. There's no reason not to move on, so we're going to figure out a way to do this.
Speaker 1:I love that, yeah, yeah that. I mean you're speaking of that really, that spirit of resiliency, and I've seen that so much in the last. Well, since the fall I mean since the hurricane came you see these stories of resiliencies, and so that's very encouraging to hear you say that and to know that you have your heritage to rest on, you have your experience to rest on, and you also have the future customers in mind, too that say we want them to experience some of the very same stuff that people have been experiencing for the last 20 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and on a personal level, Mike, it was like, well, if I didn't do second gear, I'm not ready to move on quite yet. I'm kind of getting into the twilight of my career Maybe. What am I going to do if I'm not? I love owning a business. I love, you know, the team that I'm with and it's a fun business because it's about the outdoors. You know, we, we try to run it professionally and take it seriously, but not take ourselves and not take it too seriously. You know that at the end of the day, it's about getting outdoors and enjoying the outdoors. So, yeah, I wanted to continue to do that. I enjoy it. I love it.
Speaker 1:I love that Most days, I love it. Yeah, that's right, it's like any business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's stuff that you have to deal with a lot. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1:Well, it kind of sounds like your. Why is what keeps you going? Something you said earlier was people that want to get into the outdoors, and you want to see them getting into the outdoors and be able to do that more affordably through the products that you guys are selling, that you're co-signing, I think, is just a wonderful way to do it. I know that's been true of our family. I know it's been true of our kids. There's things and pieces of gear that you can just get there, that you don't have to make these huge investments in a brand new piece of product. So, yeah, well, let's talk about the transitioning in. So now you're in the Westgate Shopping Center. You opened this store up right before the holidays and in the beginning of December, and it seems like when you opened up you were stocked full. How do you go from having nothing to having a store full of product that people can come and shop?
Speaker 2:Several factors that played there. We did have a few weeks that we were preparing for this. So again, it was being able to keep that team together. So Peter, our buyer, he was in touch with vendors and we were putting together, you know, orders. Those vendors a lot of them gave us extended terms or gave us discounts right off the bat for this pre-opening order, which was awesome. And then somebody else on the team you know Chris, he's ordered fixtures before.
Speaker 2:So he had to order all brand new fixtures and we had to make that decision. You know, do you, do we go out and try to buy, get a bunch of used stuff to save money, or do we just make the decision we're going to buy it and make it look like it did before? And we just made that decision like, okay, we don't want it to look hodgepodge and we want to make it look like it had before. So we had fixtures ordered and we had to go out and buy all new computers. And I had worked with the same general contractor that we had worked with down in the River Arts District and up on Haywood Road, and that's Elm Construction, and Trey, his crew, jumped in and helped us open up quickly. So it was that support from kind of, I guess, already being in business, having connections and having those relationships established that really made it possible to make it allow us to open up so quickly.
Speaker 1:That's great, and you continue to thrive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we made the business decision that, knowing that February, january are not going to be awesome, but we're going to get a little bit of December in, we're going to get established, we're going to keep momentum going. And we're going to get established. We're going to keep momentum going, we're going to be, I hope, very established, ready to go come March, april and we won't have lost staff and people start to know, you know, we'll know where we are, I hope, and that when spring gets here and people are ready to get back out, that we're already there and known.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great, and I notice you're already kind of beginning to wind down your winter consignment, especially some of the fleece. You guys are running some great deals right now, some extra stack-on discounts, and then you're ready to transition into the spring products.
Speaker 2:Yeah, historically, part of the way that we try to get a little boost in February is to start doing a winter clearance in February, because we opened in December and it's been particularly cold. We've pushed that back a little bit. So yeah, that's kind of around the corner that we'll start winding down winter and start taking in spring. You know we've never had an issue with getting consignment.
Speaker 2:The community is just so awesome about supporting us and that's what the whole business is based on is community to provide product for the store and they've never let us down.
Speaker 1:And they're not going to let you down now.
Speaker 2:I'm super positive about being in Westgate. I'm really, really fortunate that we found a space that is working. But it's got some challenges too and I'm not going to sugarcoat everything. It hurt from going from something that was designed and that we intended to be there for 15 years or more to something that we had to kind of make a pivot and have to adjust to. It's not ideal, but we've got some flexibility there to adjust to. It's not ideal, but we've got some flexibility there and I think we'll outgrow that space because we were operating in something, like I said, a third bigger than what we're in now. So we'll see how it all that plays out over the next few years.
Speaker 1:Besides the, obviously the location, River Arts into a strip shopping center, which is still nice and it's still convenient and it's still very easily accessible. What are some of the other obstacles, or what are some of the other things that are just going to be different for the people that haven't been able to come visit you yet? What should they expect as they're walking in the doors?
Speaker 2:I think what they're going to find is that it's just a slightly smaller version of what we have. We really haven't changed the mix. You know we've been for the last as long as I can remember last 10 years or so at least a mix of about 70% used consigned items and 30% new accessories, and that's still the case. We have the same looking fixtures. You know, we're really, I guess, one of the big differences. It was really fun that we had two other businesses down the River Arts District with us. We had Asheville Adventure Company they were doing their electric bike tours and we had a little cafe, sugar and Snow Gelato. So we don't have them anymore, but we have Earth Fare. However, sugar and Snow has a little cooler or freezer in our store.
Speaker 1:Oh good.
Speaker 2:So you can still get Sugar and Snow Gelato pints. And they're selling online as well, so customers can pick up their online purchases in the store as well.
Speaker 1:Generally speaking, what would some words of wisdom be for other companies, other businesses that haven't been able to quite get to the point where you are, of sort of reopening and recovering, regardless of whether or not they're brick and mortar?
Speaker 2:what are some of the words of wisdom and some encouragement that you might have for them? You know, believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself and your business, you can make it work. I feel like you can make it work with support. You know there's a lot of support right now, whether it's oh, I didn't mention, we also got grants. We had, you know, so far, four grants. So I would recommend to those businesses it's not too late and there are still more grants coming online.
Speaker 2:You know, a lot of businesses not just Second Gear have COVID debt, and so there are SBA loans that are available and those loans are very attractive, and so a lot of businesses didn't want to take on more debt, including mine. But if you don't have a SBA loan, whether it's coaching or helping you kind of navigate the horizon right now of recovery, stay strong. You know, if you believe in your business and you've got good support for your business, just keep at it and reach out for that support within the community, cause you'll, you'll, you'll, you'll find that support and that that path forward.
Speaker 1:What about some unexpected positives that came from this transition? I mean, I know that, you know, sometimes we we see the silver lining, um, whatever phrase we want to use there, uh, and sometimes we don't. But what are some of the positive, the unexpected positives that came from this transition? Russ.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just the, particularly after we reopened the first week or so just people being genuinely, sincerely grateful and excited that we have reopened, because it's partly their business as well.
Speaker 2:But I think they they were happy for us and and because of the service we provide and the products we provide, that we were able to to find that path forward and that was just really gratifying. You know, I get a little choked up over it because it's hundreds of people that were coming in and those same people that said that, that said, you know, I don't need my payment, you need it more than we do, and so just that, that support and just, you know, as I said earlier, it's, it's amazing how, how, uh, the attention that you, the unintended intention that you get from a disaster. But when you see the love from the community and the you know, uh, you see the love from the community and the you know, friends and family and supporters from all over the country that donated significant money to our GoFundMe, or just a little amount, just anywhere from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars, was just, I was just blown away by that.
Speaker 1:I love that I was just blown away by that.
Speaker 2:I love that, and even people donating to our GoFundMe whose own businesses had been destroyed or significantly damaged. And we're kind of all in that. That was like just you know, mind blowing.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And just so humbling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did it kind of make you feel like you weren't in this alone, when you're experiencing that for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, right from, like I said earlier, from you know that first few days being on the bridge and seeing the extent of the damage and seeing, wow, this is really going to impact.
Speaker 2:And then you start learning about, you know, biltmore Village and Swannanoe and all these other places of businesses that have been impacted as well, that yeah, this is a long haul and and everybody's kind of in this together very different feel from covid. You know, this covid was so different because for our business in particular, once we were able to reopen after nine weeks, everybody wanted to get outside, be away from each other and we I I felt guilty. How good business was back then and but now everybody was kind of, you know, really out of business for Quite a while. Even businesses like downtown Asheville that weren't flooded but because of the water situation couldn't open. That just it was really difficult for everybody or, you know, and their insurance wouldn't cover cover it because it was all related to a flood but they weren't flooded. So, yeah, just all these ramifications that came out of it that you wouldn't expect.
Speaker 1:Well, so there's one little story that I was following on social media. Oh this little angel. Oh wow, I'd love to hear that from your perspective.
Speaker 2:I hope I can keep it together, because so you want the whole story, the whole angel story whatever you want, okay.
Speaker 2:You can. You can pare it down if you need to. So the first year we were in business on haywood road, there were four apartments above us. We were at 415 haywood road and they're, you know, little mailboxes out front. And one day I came in, I was pulling the mail out of the mailbox and this little figurine angel this was around christmas was in our mailbox and uh, let's use uh wooden figurine and about six or seven inches tall, and I held on to her for a couple of days and thought, well, maybe somebody meant to put her in one of the other mailboxes and so nobody claimed her and so she was kind of a guardian angel or she's been called angel of the counter.
Speaker 2:She lived on our counter and she was on the counter at 415 Haywood. She moved across the street, she's gone through renovations and she's always just been there at the counter and we've never made a big deal of it. So she moved down to Riverside with us and a few nights you know, like one of the first nights after the storm I'm laying in bed and you know I bet other people went through the same thing. I just couldn't sleep and just you just, and I I had kept it together and I realized I was thinking about oh, that angel's gone. We've had her for 20 years on that counter. She's gone Now. At this point I have not been in the, I can't get in the building but I'm thinking she's gone.
Speaker 2:And that's when that was my cry, that was my like oh man, the full weight of it, yeah, full weight of it, very symbolic. Is my business gone? Is that it, even though I'm keeping the brave face of we can find a path forward? I don't even know if we've gotten there yet, a path forward, but that's kind of when the emotion hit me. So, you know, a few weeks later, when I'm able to get in the store and get in the building, and you know it's really dangerous to be in there because it's collapsed and I'm looking around, kind of looking where the counter area, you know there's this mud and the roofs have collapsed and I searched around and you know there's stuff from all these other buildings in there. There's a dumpster from a restaurant, you know, half a mile away, you know. So it's like literally the needle in the haystack and I couldn't find her and I thought, well, okay, that's, that's unfortunate. So a couple weeks later again, kind of one of these you know beautiful things that's happened through.
Speaker 2:This is Bob. I've forgotten Bob's last name. Bob, who does video, does short docu-films. He reached out to us to do a little documentary film on Second Gear, so we're filming inside the building. Chris and I are there with Bob one morning in November I guess it was November, december and Bob's filming and Chris is walking around and Chris found the angel. Chris is walking around and Chris found the angel. It was not, you know, it was it you would watch. You would think like oh, this is reality TV, it was staged right. No, it was not staged, and so that was just such a a win, such an amazing like wow.
Speaker 2:She survived. So I took her home, cleaned her up and she is now protected now protected in one of the display cases at 52 Westgate Love that. They had a really happy ending and it was really just so ironic how it played out like that While he happened to be filming. We found her After I had looked for her. She was kind of near where the counter had been, but the whole counter was the counter, the base, you know. It was a concrete. It was all gone. There was nothing there or very little there. It was. You know, most everything got blown out and washed down river.
Speaker 1:So wow, yeah, and at that point was that just more of reinforcement. Oh, absolutely, absolutely yes. This is yes, we've got her. We've got her.
Speaker 2:She's with us. This needs to continue. She's. She's behind us, she's got us. I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it, brother. Well, listen man. Uh, I know that's tough to to kind of go back and relive, but hopefully in some ways that it just kind of continues to strengthen you too and strengthens your resolve and your resiliency to know that we're doing the right thing for the right reasons and people need this. They want this and they've surrounded us and we're going to keep doing this for as long as we possibly can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're so grateful for the support. We're so fortunate to be able to reopen, to have the resources to do it. I don't know not all businesses, small business can do that resources to do it. I don't know not all businesses, small business can do that. But again, try your hardest, if you're a small business, to find those resources, to find help. You'd be surprised how many people really want you to be around and you know best to you out there if you're trying to climb back out of this.
Speaker 1:I love that. All right. So last before I let you go, what is the website for Second Gear? What are your socials? And also, how can people who want to now come, if they haven't ever consigned with you before? What's the best way for them to do that?
Speaker 2:an Instagram. Our inventory is online. Not everything in the store is photographed, but we put consigned items, consignment selects, as well as our new things, so you can preview online as well. In our newer space we take consignment now every day, but Tuesday. That's kind of new. But because we have a smaller space, we've had to kind of drop the maximum amount of items that people can bring in at a time. I would recommend to folks, you know, check out our website, because we're constantly updating that on things that we're taking. We take items seasonally, but sometimes during the season we get too much of one thing. So, you know, check the website. We also, you know, do a lot of emailing. We have a newsletter that goes out, so you know just kind of check beforehand before you come in to see what's hot and what's not hot at the time.
Speaker 1:Nice. Yeah Well, Russ, thanks so much for just spending a few minutes with me.
Speaker 2:Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I've thoroughly enjoyed this. I wish you all nothing but the best. It's a great store serving a great cause. Yeah, just, I'm so, so happy for the direction that y'all are moving in and so happy you found your angel.
Speaker 2:Appreciate it, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, brother, story with us and for offering such a candid and inspiring look at the highs and lows of running a business, from the struggles of a flood and a hurricane to the triumphs of recovery. Second Gear's story is a testament to the incredible power of resilience, community support and thoughtful decision making. What stood out most was Russ's belief in the heart of his business the people, from the patrons who supported Second Gear during its hardest times to the team that never gave up. It's clear that community is what has kept this business alive. The recovery journey wasn't just about getting back to business, but about connecting more deeply with the people that they serve, and Russ's story reminds all of us that no challenge is insurmountable when you have the right mindset and support system behind you. If you're in the Asheville area or just looking for top quality outdoor gear, make sure to check out Second Gear. Not only will you find great products, but you'll also be supporting a business that gives back to its community and is committed fully to its community.
Speaker 1:Before we wrap up, I'd love to hear from you, whether it's your thoughts on today's episode or your own stories of overcoming adversity. I always love connecting with our listeners. If you've enjoyed the conversation. Don't forget to rate and subscribe so you never miss an inspiring story. Thanks again for tuning in. Until next time, stay resilient, stay grounded and remember, no matter how tough the journey gets, community and perseverance will always light the way forward. Wander far, my friends, but always explore local.