We have some exciting news!
Hi everyone, I wanted to take a moment to connect with all of you and share some exciting news about our journey and expansion.
Many of you have known FERAL since its inception. It has been an incredible experience to be a part of this community and witness its growth over the past seven years. From our humble beginnings in a small bungalow on the street in 2016, FERAL has evolved into a comprehensive retailer, offering a range of services including buying and selling used gear, selling new gear, gear rentals, repairs, and even partnering with a gear washing service.
Throughout this journey, our mission has remained constant—create adventure. It has been our goal to inspire and enable people to embrace the great outdoors. However, about four years ago, we realized that the outdoor industry was not as inclusive as we had initially thought. The high prices of gear posed a significant barrier for many individuals who wanted to experience outdoor activities.
To address this issue, we shifted our focus towards our used gear program. By offering a wider selection of affordable clothing and used gear, we could make outdoor adventures more accessible to everyone. Our mission statement transformed from a mere slogan into a true mission—a mission to break down barriers of price and cost and create adventure for everybody.
Mission statements often become empty marketing slogans, but at FERAL, we have made it our core purpose. We are committed to improving access to the outdoors and empowering our community to explore the wonders of nature. It has been a privilege to witness the positive impact we have had on the Berkeley neighborhood and the broader Colorado area, but we began to contemplate how we could extend this mission even further.
As a team, we explored outdoor communities across the United States, searching for places where used outdoor gear and clothing were underrepresented. After careful consideration, we set our sights on Michigan. Michigan boasts one of the largest outdoor communities in the country, yet there is a lack of shops and organizations driving down the prices of gear and used outdoor clothing.
Michigan also had a personal significance to me, as I was born there and grew up in the Midwest. It felt like coming home, and the combination of Midwest values, vibrant community, and stunning natural surroundings made it a perfect fit for FERAL. We immediately gravitated towards Grand Rapids—a city we fell in love with due to its community spirit, the size of the town, and its resemblance to the neighborhood shop atmosphere we had cultivated here on Tennyson Street in Denver.
During our visits to Grand Rapids, we stumbled upon a building on Wealthy Street, which reminded me of our original FERAL shop in Denver—a converted bungalow that had been transformed into a commercial space. It was like destiny had led us to this place. Today, I am thrilled to announce that we will be opening a FERAL in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at 1031 Wealthy Street. We are ecstatic to join this vibrant community and continue our mission of building a close-knit outdoor community while making outdoor adventures more accessible.
Now, I know you might be wondering when this exciting expansion will happen. We aim to be ready by late this year, and if not, it will be in the early spring. To stay up to date on our progress and the exact opening date, I encourage you to follow us on social media (@feraldenver @feralgrandrapids) and our website. We will be sharing regular updates to keep you informed every step of the way.
Now, what does this mean for our beloved Denver community? Absolutely nothing changes. Denver is where FERAL was born, where our roots run deep, and where we will continue to serve our Colorado community. This expansion into Grand Rapids is an opportunity for us to spread our mission and touch the lives of a new community. We are passionate about fostering a sense of belonging and improving access to the outdoors for everyone, and we are excited to bring this commitment to our new friends in Grand Rapids.
Before I wrap up, I want to express my deepest gratitude to our incredible Colorado community. Your unwavering support over the past seven years has made FERAL what it is today. You have helped turn my dreams into reality, and I am forever grateful. Our journey here in Colorado is far from over, and I look forward to growing and evolving together, and I am also extremely excited to meet and get to know our new community in Grand Rapids!
Thank you once again, and I hope to see all of you out there, whether it’s in the familiar streets of Denver or the vibrant neighborhood of Grand Rapids, very soon. Let’s continue creating adventures and exploring the great outdoors together.
– Jimmy
Jimmy Funkhouser is the founder and owner of FERAL. He lives in Denver, CO and can usually be found exploring the hinterland of Colorado, or having a brew at one of his favorite neighborhood watering holes.
