A community outdoor shop with a heavy focus on bikes.

Doesn’t that sound like a dream?

Jake and Janine Emmets, Amanda Gadomski, and Coquette Collins all thought so.

So, in 2015, they launched Pagosa Mountain Sports in a tiny house in Downtown Pagosa Springs. And for the past seven years, their business has continued to grow. They sell and provide rentals of stand-up paddle boards, skis, snowshoes, and of course, bikes. They also carry supplies for a myriad of outdoor activities, and in 2021, they began leading guided mountain bike tours and clinics in Archuleta County.

By 2021, the team of managers realized that they had maxed out what they could accomplish in their tiny space. They knew they needed a solution for growth, so they reached out to the SBDC.

The consultants met with them to discuss various paths for expansion. They looked at enlarging their downtown facility but couldn’t find a way to do it without shutting down during their busiest summer months.

Then, they learned that an uptown bike shop was for sale. “After crunching numbers with Rich Lindblad, it looked like purchasing the bike shop would be a good move for us,” says co-owner Amanda Gadomski. Pagosa Mountain Sports completed the acquisition in the spring of 2022.

But, moving to two separate locations has been a huge transition, and the business has had to shift how they operate. Their downtown location focuses on rentals, while their uptown location has more room for servicing and inventory.

They’ve also brought on a number of new staff members. Amanda explains, “For years, our staff consisted of the four owners and one part-time employee. We now have four full-time and 12 part-time employees. In adding new staff, we really don’t want to lose the Pagosa Mountain Sports vibe. We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service with a community-focused feel, and we want to make sure we aren’t just super efficient at selling stuff. We want our customers to know what we care about because that’s what made us successful in the first place.”

The new location opened in May of 2022—just in time for the summer business boom. Although it’s too early to determine if the expansion has been a success, business has been steady.

So, what’s next for Pagosa Mountain Sports? First, they want to settle into this new business model and make sure they are doing it well. Then, they hope to get busy enough to keep staff on year-round. In addition, they want to continue to see their nonprofit grow, so more trails can be built in the area. They still want to be known as the one-stop shop that provides education, knowledge, and gear.

The owners of Pagosa Mountain Sports are grateful to the SBDC for all their help. “The SBDC made the sale process super simple. They helped us gather and evaluate information, which made it really easy to decide that this would be a good move for us. They also helped us evaluate the cost and determine what to pay for the purchase. They are a good resource for anything that relates to business.”