SNEWS® Recognizes Backcountry.com as Online Retailer of the Year

PARK CITY, UTAH – Leading outdoor industry publications SNEWS®, and Backpacker Magazine recognized Backcountry.com as the “Online Retailer” winner of its coveted Retail of the Year award. The two magazines, owned by AimMedia, honored six outdoor retailers as recipients of the 2010 Retailer of the Year Award, a recognition given annually to outdoor retailers who embody the spirit of entrepreneurship and who serve as visionaries for the outdoor market and as leaders for the communities they serve.

“With sales of active outdoor recreation gear and accessories on the rise, specialty outdoor retailers are playing a significant and influential role in the growth and development of our outdoor community, “says Michael Hodgson, president of SNEWS. “This award honors exemplary retailers, and sets a bar for all other retailers to achieve, with the ultimate goal of establishing a standard for specialty retail excellence nationwide.”

The award was in recognition of Backcountry.com’s community initiative. Backcountry.com is the first and only retailer to allow customers to be the experts on outdoor gear in an integrated online community through reviews, interactive peer-to-peer Q&A, customer-submitted images and more. It is a groundbreaking forum of user-generated content that has made Backcountry.com a center for real, unedited peer-to-peer gear knowledge online.

Backcountry.com customers are encouraged at every point of their experience to become part of the community, building their own profiles, sharing information on themselves, the sports they love and the gear they use.

“This means a lot to us. We’ve put a lot of effort into our community, making Backcountry not only the place to buy gear, but the place for people to get the lowdown on gear from other skiers, runners, backpackers,” said Dustin Robertson, CMO. “What’s cool is that this award is really all about our customers and their gear reviews, photos, questions and answers. We owe a big thanks to them.”

With six set categories and one overall winner, the second annual Retailer of the Year Awards were carefully selected through a rigorous judging process that first began in March of 2009 with a call for nominations seeking the best outdoor retailers in the United States. More than 100 stores across the country received nominations.

After reviewing all nominations, a slate of finalists—determined by a first round of voting by SNEWS and Backpacker editors—was then presented to a panel of judges who evaluated each store based on personal and customer experience, reputation in the outdoor community, quality of customer feedback from the nomination forms received, and overall store excellence based on demonstrated excellence in community involvement, sustainability efforts, store training levels
and more.

“More so now than ever, specialty retailers act as gatekeepers to our industry and enable consumers to sort through the myriad of product choices available today,” says Jonathan Dorn, editor in chief of Backpacker magazine. “Because store owners and their retail sales employees have become extraordinarily educated about the products and technologies on the market and are highly-skilled in being able to impart that knowledge in a meaningful and engaging way, we’re thrilled to celebrate and recognize their efforts by hosting this awards program.”

The complete list of Retailer of the Year Award winners will be announced to the public on SNEWSnet.com on January 29 and in Backpacker magazine’s April issue, on newsstands March 2.

Backcountry.com was honored for the award at a reception on Day One of Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, 2010 in Salt Lake City, Jan. 21.

About Backountry.com:
Backcountry.com is an online retailer of high-end outdoor gear. The e-tailer carries more than 400 brands in various categories, including backpacking, camping, cycling, hiking, climbing, trail running, paddling, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and adventure travel. Backcountry also operates Bonktown.com, Chainlove.com, SteepandCheap.com, Dogfunk.com, Tramdock.com, WhiskeyMilitia.com, Departmentofgoods.com, Realcyclist.com, Hucknroll.com, and Brociety.com. Backcountry.com is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group (Nasdaq: LINTA).

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