Trailheads

It’s 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, and the Trailheads crew is leaning on a shiny wooden bar top while Cody Whelan pours us glasses of amber-colored beer.

No, we haven’t detoured to a bar during our Switchback New England Roadshow. Instead, we’re visiting Treeline Outfitters, a business that’s half outdoor retail store and half taproom.

Before he opened the store, Whelan worked as a geologist. However, he left that career and opened Treeline Outfitters in Portsmouth, NH, a little over a year ago.  “Something was missing from my role as a geologist and environmental consultant,” Whelan tells us. “Other than aiding residential homeowners, I wasn’t necessarily able to have a positive impact on people or a community.”

A gearhead at heart, Whelan had always dreamed of owning an outdoor store, but he didn’t want to run a conventional business. Rather than focusing on product sales, his primary goals were to get people outdoors and bring together members of the outdoor community. While his retail store and its programs enable people to explore nature, the taproom provides a venue for hikers, runners, and mountain bikers to gather and build connections.

A Broad Customer Base

As Whelan pours the beers, he tells us that Treeeline’s customers include everyone from twenty-somethings to people in their 60s and 70s. Many enjoy various activities, such as day hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and camping. So, Whelan prefers to stock items that can serve multiple purposes.

“I don’t want something that’s just a one-trick pony,” he says. “I don’t want it just to be a special shammy for cycling. A T-shirt should have multiple functions; a backpack should have multiple functions.”

Some of Treeline’s best-selling backpacks are 20-liter to 25-liter models from Pingora, an emerging brand based in Holladay, UT.  The store also partners with Burgeon Outdoor, an apparel company in Lincoln, NH, to produce its top-selling T-shirts made of synthetic materials and organic cotton.

As Whelan seeks out versatile products for the store, he also looks for socially and environmentally responsible companies. “If a brand does not have any sort of sustainability component, and if they’re not giving back to the community or organizations, they don’t show up in the store,” he says.

Whelan is very intentional about the brands he carries and spends a great deal of time researching companies’ backgrounds, identifying new brands, reading product reviews, and testing each item he stocks.

“The product mix is based solely on gear that I either personally own or have tested,” he says.

The Taproom

While standing behind the bar, Whelan mentions that he often researches products and places orders late at night. During the day, he not only manages the retail store but also devotes a great deal of time to the taproom.  

“I spend a few hours every single week hand selecting each keg, every can that comes through here to make sure that it is high quality and that the breweries and other beverage manufacturers have good business practices,” he says.

During our visit, Whelan pours a pint of Treeline Pale Ale, which is produced by Loaded Question Brewing, about half a mile from the store. “We work with really small microbreweries,” he says, adding that partners include Liar’s Bench Beer Co., Rek Lis Brewing Co., Schilling Beer Co., and Vulgar Brewing Co.

Whelan sets a pint on the shimmering bar he, his father, and friends built from scrap pine flooring. “We used a torch to bring out the softer grains in the wood, so it just pops a little bit,” he says.

On many afternoons and evenings, shoppers and regular patrons occupy the wooden stools lining the bar. Hanging on the wall behind the bar are rows of mugs belonging to regulars, known as the Mug Club.

The tap room serves as a gathering place for the shop’s many activity groups, including running, walking, and cycling clubs. “You’ll have 20-somethings talking to 70-year-olds,” says Whelan. “In most other scenarios, they might not even interact.” Conversations concerning the day’s run or ride sometimes transition to issues affecting the community, and then Treeline becomes much more than a place where people buy gear.  

The tap room also provides a place for people to continue conversations after in-store clinics. Treeline has partnered with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department to host an introductory fly-tying class. The store also hosted a series of bike-packing clinics that will culminate in a group trip to ride the Presidential Recreational Rail Trail in Gorham, NH.

“Events drive traffic to the store,” says Whelan. “But it’s really about the community first and driving growth.” He says that in-store clinics and group outings introduce people to new activities and help them find new friends. Plus, gatherings allow locals to meet the many outdoor recreation stakeholders, such as the Fish and Game Department and local state parks and land trusts.

Through its programs, retail space, and taproom, Treeline Outfitters is gradually building stronger ties between the many different types of people who love New Hampshire’s wild places.

When people gather and find common ground, a sort of magic happens, says Whelan. “There’s a ton of magic around us all the time,” he says. “So why don’t we harness that magic?”

Check back in the coming weeks to read more store profiles from our New England Switchback Roadshow.