Holly Fussell recently celebrated the two-year anniversary of buying Water Stone Outdoors in Fayetteville, West Virginia.

She bought the 30-year-old store with her husband, Chris, in February 2022.

Fussell said when they bought the store, annual revenue was just under $800,000, which seemed low to her for an outdoor shop.

In the past two years, they’ve exceeded that number by quite a bit, she added.

Fussell spoke with The Daily about what’s working in the store, capitalizing on a new nearby national park designation, and what brands are selling well.

Bucking the Trend

Water Stone saw 25% growth in revenue from 2022 to 2023, which runs counter to the ongoing narrative in the outdoor industry that has struggled with inventory overhang and other macroeconomic challenges.

Fussell attributes that success to internal and external factors.

Internally, she said she’s built a strong team and updated the store’s systems, including its POS program.

Water Stone also now works with Outside Looks to buy and manage inventory. The service offers consultation by using a third-party data analyst to watch sales trends, inventory levels, and past performance, and to aggregate data from other similar shops.

Photo courtesy of Water Stone Outdoors.

Essentially, it has reduced Water Stone’s cost of holding inventory while chasing the proven performers in the store.

Working with the service might require more effort than traditional retail practices, because the store does more frequent buying and discounting than it otherwise would do. “It’s been really successful for us,” Fussell said.

One reason Fussell went with that service is because she was taking over a shop with historical knowledge of the local climbing community. “I was coming in and I knew I didn’t have that,” she said. “I knew I couldn’t get that overnight.”

The consulting service has since paid for itself multiple times over, according to Fussell.

Cashing In on the National Park

Externally, nearby New River Gorge was designated as a national park and preserve in 2020, and that has helped bring in customers who are either tourists visiting the area or locals who need supplies to explore the park, Fussell said.

The store has always been focused on climbing, but Water Stone is now offering a wider variety of products as well as an expanded coffee shop and a beer garden.

“We spent a fair amount of money transforming the back of the shop into a hangout spot,” Fussell said. One of the strategies there is to attract people to the store with lower price point opportunities like beverages.

Water Stone Outdoors’s coffeeshop. Photo courtesy of Water Stone Outdoors.

Store workers have coffee tokens they carry in their pockets that they hand out to new visitors to get them to come back for a coffee or beer.

To give Water Stone a strong presence in the community, twice a month the shop hosts events where the first round of beer is on the store owners.

As for expanded products, Water Stone has increased the depth and breadth of its apparel, Fussell said. They’ve been spending on more T-shirts that say national park and Fayetteville, for example, after their consultant advised them to add dollars in that category.

New Store Improvements

Water Stone’s consignment section only takes up about 200 square feet in the 3,000 square foot store, but sales in that section increased by about $75,000 last year, Fussell said. She intends to add more space to the consignment area.

That’s part of the owners’ plan to improve the design and layout of the store while trying to attract both visitors and generational West Virginians.

Fussell said she wants the West Virginians who have lived in the area for decades or longer to feel like “all this stuff is theirs to enjoy.”

As one way to do that, Water Stone hired a buyer who grew up in the holler. “She has been this unbelievably valuable treasure and resource,” Fussell said.

Photo courtesy of Water Stone Outdoors.

Another treasure has been retaining one of the former owners as an employee.

“That’s been an incredible resource because of how tied he is to the outdoor world and community and experiential knowledge,” Fussell said.

The previous owners developed a thriving community hub, and Fussell said she is grateful to build upon that with changes like updating the POS, adding the beer license, and reorganizing the shop. The previous ownership and community have been supportive of her efforts.

“I couldn’t ask for more,” she added.

Brands That Are Selling

Water Stone has doubled down on Patagonia, Fussell said, because it’s such a strong seller. The store carries a lot of Rab, and Salewa footwear has been a strong performer.

Czech climbing brand Ocun is new to the store and doing well.

For trail running, Altra does great, Fussell said. For climbing shoes, La Sportiva and Scarpa are the standouts.

Black Diamond is also one of the store’s top brands on the hardgoods side. Petzl’s helmets are tried and true, Fussell said.

Another fun brand for Water Stone is Pongoose, which makes innovative products for sport climbing and bouldering, among other activities.

Working Through PFAS Challenges

Water Stone is working through some merchandise containing PFAS, including from Mountain Hardwear, but Fussell said the store doesn’t carry a ton of outerwear.

It’s too hard to compete with internet sales in that category, she added.

Overall, the upcoming regulations around PFAS and the industry move away from those products hasn’t hit the store too hard, Fussell said.

Expanded Footprint

In the future, Fussell would like to update the store’s e-commerce business and is working on a website redesign and relaunch.

She’d also like to start assembling chalk bags and crash pads in West Virginia.

“West Virginia has a declining population,” Fussell said. “I’ll talk all day long about how great this this state is, and this community is, but those are just hard realities. If I can be a part of a team that’s creating more positive impact from products for enjoying and recreating in the outdoors, I want to be a part of that.”