Adventure 16 announced plans to close its remaining two stores in West Los Angeles and San Diego.
The 57-year-old outdoor chan was started in a garage in La Mesa, CA in 1962 as a developer of backpacking equipment. By the mid-2000s, the employee-owned company had seven stores, e-commerce operations, a wholesale distribution business, a guide service and its own non-profit, Donate-A-Pack Foundation. .
John Mead, who has been CEO since 1970, said in a statement sent to Westside Today, “We’re proud to be employee-owned and to have run a Foundation, that with the help of our customers, put tens of thousands of pieces of gear into the hands and onto the backs of adventurous underserved youth throughout Southern California. So we’ve seen a lot, learned a lot, made a lot of friends, and hopefully we did some good along the trail. It’s certainly been an enjoyable and rewarding journey and a great run in the sun. But times change. It’s no secret that our style of retailing is under intense pressure. Big box and online shopping, including direct selling from manufacturers, is on a steady rise and continues to outpace traditional specialty stores like A16. We’ve fought the good fight and now it’s time for us to strike camp and move on.”
Going-out-of-business sales begin on Friday, November 29. Beginning Saturday, December 7, rental gear and store fixturing, including a large collection of vintage and antique props, will be up for sale.
Mead wrote, “We’ll throw in the kitchen sink, if someone wants to buy it! We’re determined to make the best of a sad situation. So expect to see us working hard with our heads held high, serving our customers and still making new friends with smiles on our faces, right up until the end.”
