Alot of people have been asking us lately how we feel about REI coming to town, What are we going to do?.......Are we afraid of REI?....... Do we really think we are going to make it? All very realistic questions. With so many questions and so much curiosity I will attempt to address our communities questions and concerns and at the same time pose the same question back to the community. What do you think?

For nearly fourteen years Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works, formerly Active Endeavors of Santa Fe has operated as a specialty outdoor business with the mission and comittment of providing the Santa Fe community with quality outdoor apparel and equipment combined with a focus towards customer service and community investment. In this light I think that our tenure speaks to some modest success in achieving our goal within the community. Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works has always been a small store with a big heart re investing in the comminty of Santa Fe through the support of many local not for profits, participation in the Santa Fe Locals Care community cooperative rewards. One of our greatest successes has been the introduction of the Santa Fe presentation of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, a venue we devoted for seven years to assisting The Trust For Public Land in their effort to create community awareness and investment in our communities Rail Yard Park( REI is appreciative of our efforts). Beyond our charitable work in the community , Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works has assembled and pioneered some of the finest outdoor equipment and apparrel in the market place. Through our communities continued patronage, Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works believes in our business and our customers as well as our our long term viability.

Santa Fe like everywhere else in the world is changing very rapidly and has achieved the general pop status of one of the finest places in the world to live form a quality of life standoint. As we grow we also become attractive to the forces and economic drivers that seek the growth metrics of a community like ours. With this attraction comes change and the entrance of larger and more powerful corporations, like REI. Is REI bad, I would think not, they are seemingly a very adept a shrewd retailer as they have achieved a high status on all fronts nationally. REI lends viability to the market and will give Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works an opportunity to achieve a higher level of success as the railyard becomes a general outdoor epicenter for the Santa Fe Community. REI will bring a new twist to doing business in Sana Fe and will force us to sharpen our pencils and become a better retailer. We hope we can work with our new neighbor as we have done with other competitors in the market.We believe in the value of long term relationships and slowly earning our customers one at a time. We have an incredible bredth of knowledge surrounding the gear and activities we sell. As passionate skiers, climbers, bikers, paddlers,mountaineers, trail runners and nordic skiers we do what we do out of passion for sharing the outdoors. So we welcome the challenge and we will put our best foot forward, in the end it will come down to you the consumer as to where you want to purchase your gear. I can sure say, we hope you will choose Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works.

So whats really changing here and what will be the so great about having REI. There are a whole lot of myths abounding surrounding small mountain shops and larger players like REI. A common myth about shopping at REI is that they are cheaper across the board, which actually is not true. The outdoor industry in the world of wholesale distribution holds all dealers to strict contracts and pricing agreement which we all must live by or we will lose our privaledges. REI and Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works are required to sell products for the same price unless we are having a seasonal or annual sale promotion. In this light, the myth of price gouging by small retailers is just that , a myth. Well then there is the REI co-operative which enables members to recieve a divededn at the end of the year. This is great too except that Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works has also operated a customer coop allowing 10% back on all retail purchases at the end of the year. In adddition Sangre de Cristo Mountain works has participated in Locals Care allowing customers to acquire points at retailwhich are then redeemable at all participating ocal busineeses. Beyond our general cutomer appreciation programs, Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works has worked for over a decade with local Search and Rescue teams, Fire teams, The Santa Fe Police, The Department of Parks and Recreation as well as various clubs and organizationsproviding access to the equipment and apparrel they need to safely provide for our community.So, if REI is not cheaper via price or membership, is it the service? Sure, REI has well trained staff, and they do provide pretty good service for a super sized retailer, this is the tricky one because we all value different aspects of retail service in todays world. We both will provide excellent service, so that is a wash. Is it the brands? Sangre de Cristo Mountai Works and REI overlap on nearly 85% of the brands we represent, this is not to say that we will carry the same products from the companies we represent, it just means we both have access to the same products and again at the same price. It is the BIG effect where we will be different, REI is BIG and they have lots of stuff for the immediate gratification consumer. We would like to believe that BIGGER is not neccessarily BETTER, but there are some who definetly think so. So what is it about those guys,same clothes, same gear, same cutomer discounts. REI will always generally have more of everything, we will have more quality in the brands and products we sell. It is very interesting to me to sort these questions out, let us know what you think. The one thing we do know is that which does not kill us will only make us stronger and change is constant. We love the community we serve.

All the small businesses in Santa Fe face adversity. We have lived through Forest Fires, Forest Closures, Drought, Snowless winters, global terror, increased gas prices, incresed rent, increased expenses, internet competition, stock market implosion and increased competitiiton. It has been said by an unkown source;

"If you think you're beeaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win and don't think you can
It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost;
For out in the world ,you'll find
Success begins with a persons will
It's all in the state of mind.


Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works believes in our mission to serve and provide the Santa Fe community with the best gear , the best service in a pleasant boutique Mountainshop environment.

In addressing the concerns of the communty as a whole, we want to thank Santa Fe and our loyal patrons for all the incredible support you have shown us during these times of change. We are happy to say we are having the busiest summer ever at Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works and we hope that this will be indicative of the communities future support of our store. I know that like so many others, I moved to Santa Fe for a love of the place , Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works was born out of a deep passion for the outdoors. I have been very lucky in combining my deepest loves into a proffession where I can serve the most interesting community of outdoor lovers in our country. We thank you for sharing in our dream. We look forward to our future serving you in Santa Fe.

As we move ahead we are looking forward to our upcoming remodel of our space and the introduction of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works Online store. We are busy looking at the Farmers almanac and conducting secret snow dances in undisclosed places. The buyers are feverishly writing orders for Summer 2008 and its hard to believe that it is almost time for the year end Sale and VIC pre sale party. Peace, we will see you on the trail.

Kent Little
Founder
Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works