business backgrounder | industry
“It probably saved a lot of people in this industry,” Schmidt said. He also notes that many of the stores that only
serve specific niches, no matter what that niche may be, are still hurting.
the future is now
Farwest has plenty of brick-and-mortar competition in Western Washington to be sure, but evolving into e-commerce
is the company’s primary strategic focus for the foreseeable future. Online sales
only account for 10-15 percent of the business, but the handwriting is on the wall.
Because of that, the website has been rebuilt into a robust consumer portal for
Outdoor Foundation:
shopping and learning about products. The payoff: Schmidt tallied about 500 Cyber
www.outdoorfoundation.org
Monday orders from the 2011 holiday season.
In addition, the company supplies sporting goods to two of the nation’s largest
Sportco and Outdoor Emporium:
online retailers. “We can either fight these guys or we can get a piece of it and be a
www.sportco.com
part of them,” said Schmidt.
But Schmidt also says there will always be a place for a retail store with knowledgeFind Sportco on Facebook.
able local employees and lots of products.
“People still want to put their hands on it.”
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