Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, a national organization dedicated to specialty outdoor retail health and growth, announced that one of its members, Roads Rivers and Trails, achieved status as a B-Corp this month.
B-Corp status certifies for-profit companies committed to balancing purpose and profit, meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
This distinction makes it the only independent specialty outdoor store in the U.S. to achieve this milestone.
Roads River and Trails viewed the process as an extension of the store’s mission of better serving its community through education, stewardship and positive outdoor experiences.
“We use the phrase ‘going beyond retail’ because we see our retail sales simply as a mechanism for our mission,” said company owner, Bryan Wolf. “There isn’t a facet of our business that this process didn’t improve, from employee development to customer engagement. The B-Corp journey really provided us with a roadmap for current and future decision making.”
“Some of the most meaningful moments were in learning what we didn’t know,” said White. “It’s really easy to hit cruise control and pat yourself on the back but being open to new ideas or even criticism of your business is what ignites positive change. Ultimately, that’s why we respect the process and those who are committed to it — because there is a clear effort toward progress.”
Grassroots Outdoor Alliance recently covered Road River and Trails’ B Corp Journey through its B2B publication Grassroots Stories as an example of a way that one of their members worked to stand out not only in their region, but nationally. Wolf also said that Grassroots Outdoor Alliance vendor partner Oboz, which had already been through the B-Corp certification, was instrumental in providing guidance around the process.
“This is an excellent example of how specialty retailers really go above and beyond to serve not only their employees but their wider communities, and how information sharing in our network — thanks in this case to Oboz — makes everyone better,” said Gabe Maier, president, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance. “We applaud the two-year effort that Emily and Bryan put in to hit this milestone, and we look forward to them sharing the knowledge of their journey with other retailers in Grassroots who might be interested in the B-Corp process.”
