The first time April and Keith Peterson visited Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 2001, the couple had just started their journey in the Marine Corps. Keith was training in Quantico, and April was working in legislative affairs. They were only in town for about six months, but the community, with its historic buildings and access to the outdoors, left a strong impression on April.
“I said to him, ‘God, if we retire, I want to retire here,’” Peterson remembers. “What an amazing, beautiful community.”
But the opportunity to put roots down in Fredericksburg came earlier than expected. After moving around several times for their jobs in the Marine Corps, with Keith getting deployed several times, they found themselves back in 2013. And this time, they decided to stay put and start forging connections with the local community – something April longed for.
The best way to be accepted, she thought, when you aren’t born somewhere and don’t know a lot of people, was to have something to offer local residents. That’s how she and Keith came up with opening an outdoor specialty store. Despite never having worked in retail or operated a cash register, the Petersons loved the outdoors and knew they could tap into that sense of community through that passion. River Rock Outfitter opened in 2014, and community fuels just about every decision the couple has made since.
Before opening River Rock Outfitter, Keith Peterson served in the Marine Corps. Photo courtesy of April Peterson/River Rock Outfitter.
“Every year since 2014, we’ve run our business with that concept in mind, which is: how can we pull people together around what we love and what we’ve always sought out in the communities we’ve lived in, which is the outdoors,” April said. “And that has allowed us to grow every year in a way that I don’t know that we imagined that it would.”
River Rock now has two locations – a downtown shop that’s more lifestyle- and tourist-oriented, which moved into a new location in January after the previous lease was up, and a second location with a larger footprint that opened on April 2 – the same day President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on imported products, or what he called Liberation Day.
“I think the challenge this year is opening the two new stores, putting a lot of financial investment in doing that, and then just having our world rocked with uncertainty,” April said. In addition to tariffs, River Rock’s proximity to Washington, D.C. has also meant that many local residents who are federal employees have been impacted by return-to-work policies. It’s reshaping downtown and Main Street life in Fredericksburg, with fewer people in town during the week and increased foot traffic on weekends.
“This is the first year where I don’t know that we’ll see growth, and in fact, if we just break even, I’ll consider that success,” April said. “This is the first year where we’re really seeing struggles.”
The Sudden Impact of Changes in D.C.
The majority of River Rock’s consumers are federal employees. Fredericksburg is a relatively small community of approximately 27,000 residents, and most commute.
Even prior to COVID, April said the federal government was loosening some of the reins on employees, realizing that a lot of work could be completed outside of the office. D.C. was getting crowded, public transit wasn’t great, and traffic was horrendous. When COVID happened, much of the federal workforce stayed home – and that transformed Main Street in Fredericksburg.
“We had workers that were in our coffee shops Monday through Friday, which we hadn’t had,” April said. “That really helped our Main Street and our small businesses spread the load throughout the week to make their revenue goals.”
Celebrating the opening of the new Central Park location. Photo courtesy of April Peterson/River Rock Outfitter.
That changed in January, when the Trump administration ordered all workers back to the office full-time.
“This abrupt return back to work has just devastated our Main Street,” she said. “We weren’t prepared for that, on top of all the other issues that we know are happening this year.”
In addition to returning to work, many have also lost their jobs because of workforce reductions ordered by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, or are concerned about job security.
“The federal workforce was going through this process where they were literally showing up for work, and their government IDs that let them into the buildings may or may not work, and that’s how you learned if you had a job,” April said. “So on top of the economic issues, high inflation, the cost of groceries rising, all of those things, you’ve got, ‘Am I going to have a job today?’”
Merchandising at the new downtown location. Photo courtesy of April Peterson/River Rock Outfitter.
Tourism is also down, with fewer visitors to Fredericksburg’s historic downtown. The number of day trippers from D.C. and Maryland have remained the same, but fewer Canadians are visiting on their way to Florida or other locations, she said.
Community-Driven Initiatives
April said she’s still optimistic and knows that River Rock could have a more important role than ever – after all, stressed out workers can find solace and escape outdoors. She’s been focused on shaping the two locations to ensure they truly serve the people who come through their doors.
The new location is more of an adventure hub, where River Rock’s technical gear is located and where community events around trekking, hiking, and paddling workshops to learn how to use gear happen. The community drives buying decisions and the stores hire locally, April said. In-store talks, clinics, and specialized boot and shoe fitting are all driven by the needs of the community, she said, and they benefit from a special relationship with Oboz, which trains staff around specialty fit and care of boots.
“River Rock does a fantastic job of engaging their community,” said Alex Cavner, territory account executive at Adventure Marketing Group. “And I don’t just mean their community of established customers. April does so much work in the larger Fredericksburg business community to try to engage larger markets with shopping local and supporting all the independent businesses around hers. Taking that ‘rising tide’ mentality encourages creativity and knowledge sharing, and ultimately ends up driving more people to walk into your store. And while they may not be coming in looking for hiking shoes, they may very well walk out with a cool T-shirt or water bottle. And those little things can add up.”
Several programs are focused on girls and women who face barriers to spending time outdoors, such as safety, skills such as how to strap a kayak to a car, or even hygiene.
Peterson aims to reduce barriers girls and women face going outdoors with in-store workshops and excursions. Photo courtesy of April Peterson/River Rock Outfitter.
Every purchase is followed up with an email to the customer about where to use it, how to take care of it, or both.
“Everything you’re buying, I’ve already bought it with you in mind, and then once you’ve purchased it, we don’t let you go,” April said. “So if you buy a rain jacket from us, you’re getting an email that talks to you about how to take care of that rain jacket, how to wash it, how to make sure it stays waterproof. If you’re buying a shoe from me, you get an email that says, ‘Hey, we’re so happy you bought a pair of boots. Let’s get you out on trail using those boots.’”
The Consignment Bright Spot
River Rock is also expanding its used gear consignment program, Re-Boot, which started to overcome supply chain challenges during COVID.
“This program, it blew up in a way that I never imagined it would,” April said. “I now have a Re-Boot manager. I have a team specifically supporting the used gear, and now Re-Boot is supporting me for the exact opposite reason – which is fewer customers, less money, and so they’re being driven to Re-Boot because of the value associated with the used gear prices.”
Re-Boot is the one department that has experienced growth at River Rock this year in both the first and second quarter. Young consumers love the thrill of the hunt, and parents like the value. Everyone enjoys the sustainability of secondhand gear, she said.
River Rock has 17 employees in total. One full-time manager supports Re-Boot and seven staff members who work at River Rock and Re-Boot combined. There’s a higher cost to evaluating, cleaning, repairing, and selling used gear, she said, but the value exceeds the cost.
Joining the GOA Board
Now, River Rock’s community has expanded outside of Fredericksburg to the larger outdoor specialty community. This year, April joined the board at Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, where she’ll share what’s working locally and learn from other retailers across the country.
Even with all of this effort, April’s uncertain whether the store will break even in the third and fourth quarters. But it will still be worth it, she said.
“Oh my God, I love it,” she said. “Every second of it – all the work, the hard work of loading River Rock. It’s my way of giving back and asking for community in return.”
Kate Robertson can be reached at kate@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
