The City Garage Q&A
The City Garage Q&A
Interview with Trey Clauss: Customer Experience Coordinator
eNOW: What a wild year it's been! How did The City Garage deal with the pandemic pandemonium?
TREY: What a year indeed! Everyone has been faced with many challenges in the course of this pandemic … the ski world was just getting ready for the spring sun when the rug was pulled out from under us! Friday, March 13th we were doing a ski demo at HoliMont and by March 16th we were closed until further notice. Thankfully the ski community does not like to give up on hopes and dreams on getting back out there. We took to social media during the months of April and May to keep the stoke alive. We did a few LIVE Instagram sales and kept people engaged through the early stages. Waiting it out until Phase 2 came in early June. We reopened June 2nd and started the NEW NORMAL shopping experience! It was a bit weird at first for sure, just the whole uncertainty of coming out of our houses to be face-to-face with people in over 3 months. We have made it this far and intend on keeping a safe, clean shopping experience into the winter season.
eNOW: Is there a product this season that you're really excited about?
TREY: Where to start!? After 19 years of working in ski business, Fall comes around and its like Christmas! The hardgood department is where the most innovation and technology comes from - skis, boots, bindings. There has been a lot of buzz in the Alpine Touring category - or AT for short. Combing the uphill with the downhill. There has been a crazy amount of progression in this category … making skis lighter, boots more walkable, and bindings that allow you to climb your way up the hill and charge your way down! Definitely going to be a must-see this year with people looking to venture further away from the masses.
eNOW: The tent sale is upon us! How has that changed for 2020?
TREY: 2020 is bringing a whole new set of challenges for sure; thinking back on Fall Festival as we knew it - thousands of people setting foot into our little village for 3 days! The ski/snowboard shops as a collective came up with the idea of stretching out that action packed weekend with a month-long sale. Instead of having one big tent in the center of town, we are driving customers to our individual storefronts; offering the SALE at our stores may entice them to look at new merchandise as well!
eNOW: So, a hydraulic boot fitting chair? How does that work?
TREY: “Ole Sparky” as we affectionately call the one-off custom made Cherry wood chair. We’ve made a lot of friends along the way of 21 years in business. It just so happened when we did our revamp 10 or so years ago that one of our better customers was a custom furniture builder. Putting our trust in a fellow that made Steinway Pianos for Elton John was an easy process! To top off the beautiful craftsmanship in the wood and metal work, they finished it off with a motorcycle hydraulic lift underneath - so that when working on ski boots we can put them at eye level and no more bending over! Many pictures over the years for sure!
eNOW: You guys have won Skiing Business Magazine's "Best Vibe" award three times now. How does The City Garage work to keep up its customer experience?
TREY: The “vibe” man … you gotta let it flow naturally, “let the coolness flow into your vertebrae”. I think it’s just been the natural way of the employees and customers alike over the years. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly, but I would say you gotta give the props to the creator, Mr. Sean Lowes. He dreamt up the idea of naming a ski shop after a car garage and made it happen!
eNOW: Is there anything we didn't cover here that you would like our readers to know?
TREY: I would like to give a big THANK YOU to our customers and friends - these past months have changed the world as we now know it. There will be many many conversations had - good and bad. Together we will get through this. Please stay safe and follow the rules! And … PRAY FOR SNOW!!