President and buyer
Lucinda Fenn-Vermeulen

driven way of
presenting apparel

It’s more than just a shopping trip when consumers
outfit  themselves
South Egremont, MA. It’s also a visit to a historic town, a
tour of an 18th-century building and an ambience-filled
experience in the world of high-end snowsports retailing.
That’s  because  president  and  buyer  Lucinda  Fenn-
Vermeulen has a unique, color-driven way of presenting
apparel  and  accessories.  Her  talent,  honed  from
decades of  experience, speaks to the tastes of con-
sumers more than the preferences of manufacturers.

Vermeulen  came from  an  accessory  background in
product  development  for  department  stores  like
Neiman Marcus.

“It’s perfect for a winter sports shop,” says Fenn-
Vermeulen. The store is divided into sections, each
room  with a different focus. A children’s room and
snowboard  clothing  room  are  on  the  upper  lever.
Shoppers come down from there to a marble-floored
room filled with hardgoods. A stone level below hous-
es all the boots, and Kenver added another big room
off the hardgoods level in the late 1960s to showcase
winter
merchandising genius shines here.

“I  developed  a  lot  of  knitwear,  and  whenever
I  presented  the  sweaters  it  was fascinating that you
could show the same sweater in two different color pat-
terns and have wildly different reactions,” she explains.
That’s why she carries a designer’s array of swatches at
SIA, constantly comparing colors. The primary focus on
color is what sets Kenver apart from other retailers.

Located in the Berkshires, Kenver Ltd. has been in
business   for  40   years.   Its   grand   location   was
constructed in 1731 using brick and beams, and is com-
plemented    with    large    marble    halls,    antique

“We don’t merchandise by vendor, and some man-
ufacturers don’t like that,” she says. “But we know that
customers dress in multiple vendors.”

“Part of what helps us sell is that our fixturing is
very warm. An old Winchester chair, farm table or a
drying rack for headbands adds to the warmth,” she
says. “But our philosophy is that the thing people react
to more than anything else is color.”

And   how  do  the  companies  feel  about  this?
“Sometimes when a rep comes in at the beginning of the
season to take pictures, they’ll laugh because they see
their soft shell over another manufacturer’s fleece, and
they think it looks great together.”

All of Kenver’s displays start with the concept of
color; the store will have a bright display full of reds
and pinks, another that’s pastel blues, followed by one
that’s soft whites.

Squaw Shop
Finds Niche in

When Tait Cowan opened Tait’s Boardshopin Squaw
Valley’s  Olympic  Village  three  years  ago,  he  never
dreamed he’d end up filling a void in the resort’s ski-dom-
inated scene. But the shop’s snowboard-specific selec-
tion of apparel and accessories quickly began attracting
young skiers.

their pro model skis now dominate the product lines of
both companies.

“There’s been quite a response to pro models like
the T-Hall,” Moors says of Armada’s Tanner Hall model.
“Our customers see guys like Tanner dominate in the
competitions, films and magazines, and want to ski the
same ski, learn the same tricks and ski the same stuff
as him.”

“There is a lot of demand for ski shops here, but the
segment that gets missed is the core freestyle skier,”
says manager Krista Moors. “They had nowhere to go.”

With a core customer base that closely resembles
its snowboard counterpart, Tait’s prides itself on its mer-
chandise  philosophy.  Constructed  in a  loop,  apparel
from snowboard manufacturers — as well as apparel
from Armada and 4FRNT — forms an outer ring around
a
central core of boards and skis. The ski rack doesn’t
offer an endless selection, but the product complements
the greater  diversity of apparel and accessories that
originally attracted the core freestyle skiers. It looks like
the void has been filled in Squaw. — Graham Gephart

As more skiers frequented the  store, Tait’s soon
added  hardgoods  for  their  young  customers.  With  a
desire to offer an alternative to the selections of other
local ski shops, as well as an interest in athlete-owned
operations,  the  two  obvious  picks  were  4FRNT and
Armada. As soon as the skis were on the shelves, cus-
tomers started taking them out the door.

“We’ve seen tons of growth,” says Moors. “We
carried just a handful of skis in the first year; now
every model sells. We knew the park skis would sell,
but we’ve (also) seen a lot of growth with the big-
mountain twin tips.”

The small shop chose to carry 4FRNT and Armada
exclusively because of their rider-driven roots. According
to
himself, Cowan knew how an athlete-owned business
could offer value and increase appeal.

“We’re a new company ourselves, rider-owned and
operated,” says Moors. “So we know the flexibility and
creativity of small, athlete-owned businesses. There’s a
real impact they can have on the industry.”

Tait’s typical customer puts a lot of stock in a com-
pany’s  athletes  when choosing  their  products,  says
Moors. The highly visible Armada and 4FRNT athletes
have built a large following among freestyle skiers, and

“We’ve seen tons of growth. We knew the park
skis would sell, but we’ve (also) seen a lot of