The University community may have lost a darkroom, but it gained a dressing room.
When Gerlach’s Camera Center moved to a new location earlier in the term, Jerry and Gloria Godfrey got the chance to open a McKenzie Outfitters on East 13th Avenue – something they had wanted to do since starting their business 30 years ago.
“We had been looking for years for a location on campus but I gave up on it,” said Jerry, whose daughter, General Manager Renelle Reese, saw the opening in early April and “jumped on it.”
The new satellite store for McKenzie Outfitters opened April 26 – five days earlier than the planned opening – and offers all of the merchandise that students like most, Jerry Godfrey said.
“We’re going to cater to kids,” he said, which includes providing a lot of North Face gear, flip-flops and backpacks.
It also means offering a ten percent discount on everything in the store for University of Oregon, Lane Community College and Northwest Christian College students.
The hottest items are presently the North Face jackets, coats, vests and backpacks said Erich Schafermeyer, student employee.
“Students just love North Face,” he said.
Schafermeyer also pointed to the wall of “Locals” flip-flops. “Students come in and buy like five pairs at a time,” he said.
The flip-flops are on sale for two pairs for $10 and five pairs for $20. “Locals are the hottest thing in Hawaii right now,” Jerry Godfrey said.
Another wall is covered with backpacks of all shapes and sizes, which Jerry expects to be a big draw for students in the fall.
“At our store in the VRC we would sell 2,000 day packs just during the school year,” he said.
He also plans to offer harness packages for students interested in rock climbing. The packages will include the harness, the chalk bag and the belay device.
“The fall group will want those too,” he said.
McKenzie Outfitters is one of few clothing stores on 13th Avenue and Jerry believes that his store brings some needed diversity.
“It really adds a lot. We’re a lifestyle store,” he said. “We have a totally different mix; nobody does what we do.”
University student Sarah Payne agreed.
“It’s pretty much all (restaurants) and students do a lot of eating, but not that much,” Payne said.
Payne, who used to shop at McKenzie Outfitters when it was in the Valley River Center, said that the new location is more convenient than going to the business’ downtown location at East 6th Avenue and Olive Street.
For Jerry Godfrey, this was part of the motivation for opening up the satellite store.
“We don’t get the students downtown. We get the 24-65 age group downtown and we’re hoping to get the 18-24 age group here,” Jerry said.
Employee Brendan Cushen said he was excited when he found out his employer was opening a new location on campus.
“The University is such an outdoor sport-oriented school that it just doesn’t make sense not to have a store like this on campus,” he said.
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