River & Trail New Location Opening Soon
SAINT JOHN — River & Trail Outdoor Company is expanding for the second time in three years, this time into a new building it’s constructing at 133 Hampton Road in Rothesay this spring.
“We’ve been in business for seven and a half years and when we looked at where we are financially and what we pay for rent, it just made the most sense to become our own landlord and build our own building,” said Sean Creary, owner and operator of River & Trail Outdoor Company, currently located on 47 Clark Road in Rothesay.
River & Company sells outdoor clothing, footwear and specialty gear from 80-100 different suppliers, such as Patagonia, KÜHL and Big Agnes.
The company started investigating into building their own property and acquiring land a couple of years ago, and it was the matter of finding the right spot. Once an opportunity came up, they purchased the land and broke ground last November with a tentative move-in date set for April.
The new location will increase visibility and foot traffic and although the River & Company’s new building will increase its square footage 75 percent from 2,400 to 4,000 square feet, “We’re not going to increase our inventory by that much,” he said. “That would just be a dangerous move, we want to make sure you’re able to move product I guess before you commit to it, so we’ll just grow into it over time.”
Creary and his company are also very involved in the Saint John community and sponsor a variety of programs throughout the year. Examples include information sessions and weekly trail running races.
“As we kind of grow, the community supports and we’re able to support more in the community,” said Creary. “And who knows what the next things are that we’ll be able to attempt, but the busier we get the more we can do in the community.”
Following a soft opening this spring, Creary adds they hope to have a grand opening of the new location in June.