Take A Hike With Grivet Outdoors

Take A Hike With Grivet Outdoors

Ed. Note: Contributor Veena is here to tell us all about a new shop - and a new outdoors club - in Cooper Young. If you're looking for places to hike within a day's drive of Memphis, she's got two suggestions for you: Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas and Alabama’s Oak Mountain State Park.


Have you guys been to Grivet Outdoors in Cooper-Young? Maybe you met them at the Cooper-Young Festival and picked up some goodies? Maybe you’ve gone on one of their Tuesday night runs?

Perhaps you even saw their sign in March and stalked them until they opened? (I’m obviously not referring to myself here…)

Oak Mountain State Park

My over-the-top enthusiasm aside, Grivet is an awesome addition to Cooper-Young, for all of the reasons listed above and most especially - for me - because of their monthly hiking club.

But let’s back up a little.

Grivet has been around as an online retailer since 2015 when co-founders - and native Memphians - Coleman Whitsitt and Phillip Irwin were both moving back to Memphis and were looking for new career opportunities.

Coleman, co-owner of Grivet Outdoors

The lifelong outdoor enthusiasts hit on the idea of an outdoor retailer focused on the needs of local Memphians and struck out into the world of the interwebs with a focus on running and hiking shoes and gear.

As sales increased and inventory grew, the two realized they could not continue using Coleman’s house as their headquarters, so they acquired their location on Young and set out in late 2017 to convert it into a brick-and-mortar store.

Phillip, the other Grivet Outdoors co-owner.

Sometime during this journey Kim Sanders joined the Grivet family. She started out helping with inventory and shipping, but as Grivet made the transition into brick-and-mortar she began looking for new ways to engage with the local community, and thus the monthly hiking group was born.

 

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I first heard about the hiking group in the spring when a friend messaged me about it. One of my goals for 2018 is to do a monthly hike, so I was thrilled at the news.

Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama

Here’s the lowdown:

  • The hikes happen monthly for now, but the hope is to expand that as the company acquires its own vehicle and can hire another guide
  • As of now hikes are on Sundays but will expand to Saturday based on guide availability
  • Currently the hikes are one to four hour drives from Memphis
  • Prices are still TBA, but hikes will likely cost around $49.95 per person
    • The price includes transportation to and from the hike location, a guide who has hiked the trail[s] before, coffee and donuts at the store before departing Memphis, and water and snacks for the road
  • Prior to the hike, you’ll receive a detailed email with departure times, trail terrain and difficulty, hike length, and other notes on what to expect
  • On the morning of the hike, hikers receive 10 percent off everything in the store
  • Hikes are first-come-first-serve and offer the opportunity to meet a lot of awesome Memphians (including me!)
Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas

I was lucky enough to join the August hike to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas (about three hours away) and the October hike to Alabama’s Oak Mountain State Park (about four hours away). Both hikes were fun and provided fantastic views, and I especially loved that I didn’t have to drive there and back.

I napped, read, listened to podcasts, and chatted with my fellow hikers along the journey, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I was able to see places I’d never before visited

If you are interested in learning more about the hikes, email Kim [[email protected]] to get added to the email list. Or, better yet, go visit the store and browse a little as well!

A few more from Petit Jean:

A few from Oak Mountain:

Oak Mountain State Park

Go there:

Grivet Outdoors
2164 Young Ave.
Memphis, TN 38104

Open every day, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.


About The Author
Veena Rangaswami grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River, and after many years of splitting her time between Memphis and India, she has finally returned full-time to the 901. By day she is a program specialist for the Bridge Builders program at BRIDGES, and by night she can be found reading and writing, eating her way around Memphis, cheering on her favorite sports teams, plotting her next out-of-town adventure, and pretending to be a runner. All she wants is a lifetime supply of Dr. Pepper and to see the Grizz bring home an NBA Championship. Read about her adventures, and follow along for yourself on Instagram and Twitter.

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