ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a popular Asheville outdoor shop is rising from the floodwaters of Helene.
Second Gear’s building on Riverside Drive was destroyed when Tropical Storm Helene barreled through the River Arts District in late September. The 20-year-old outdoor gear and consignment shop reopened Tuesday afternoon in Westgate Shopping Center.
Rhea Lidowski, marketing lead for the Second Gear team, said they planned to reopen with locally made goods, stocking stuffers and plenty of consignment gear.
The water in the business’ building at 99 Riverside Drive rose above the ceilings, collapsed walls and “washed all our inventory down to the Gulf of Mexico or maybe the next small town,” Lidowski said with a shake of her head.
Despite the heavy losses, Second Gear founder Russ Tower and his team have moved ahead, leasing the former home of Frugal Backpacker and Nantahala Outdoor Center.
“It’s really ironic to end up in this space because it’s been an outdoor adventure retail store for quite a while,” Tower said. “So, it was kind of like maybe it was meant to be.”
Lidowski is looking at the new location as a silver lining to the catastrophe that devastated the River Arts District.
“There is a lot of foot traffic, a lot of locals,” Lidowski said of the new spot.
Lidowski also credited the community with helping the business relocate and survive.
“Our community, if it wasn’t for them,” she said shaking her head. “They pulled us through this. People came out, offering what skills they had.”
Tower agreed, saying there were many reasons to keep going.
“Pretty much right after the storm, not right after but pretty quickly, we just realized that we wanted to continue Second Gear. It was a 20-year-old business that was thriving,” Tower said. “We have had amazing community support. We’ve got an amazing team. There’s an industry here that needs to continue to be served. And it’s a fun business. As unfortunate as it was to lose that space down there, we’ve got to move forward. But we can do it now.”
Consignments are the heart of the business, he said. During any given month, it’s not unusual to have 500 or more active consignments. Those items, he said, make it like shopping in a new store every day.
“We have customers coming in every other week. This is a part of their life, you know. Like, they use a part of their, like, routine to come in Second Gear because it was different every time you would come to visit,” Tower said. “People miss, they miss that, miss interacting with us.”
He said about 70 percent of the store’s merchandise was consigned. The other 30 percent was new products, mostly accessories.
“Right now we’re really focused on Christmas shopping. We have a lot of stocking stuffers, a lot of locally made products,” Tower said.
