ADVENTURE SEEKER; RETAILER JOHN MEAD KEEPS HIS EYE ON THE HORIZON, SHIFTING HIS FOOTWEAR STRATEGY TO KEEP HIS MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS CLIMBING.(Adventure 16)(Interview)

Footwear News, January, 2004 by Anderson, Kelly

Adventure 16 is a 40-year-old outdoor retailer steeped in tradition, but John Mead, its president, knows when it's time to follow some new trails. The six-unit company takes cues from its customers -- and its employees' own intimate knowledge of outdoor trends -- to make sure the product mix keeps up with the times.

That close connection to outdoor pursuits was there from the start, when the firm that preceded Adventure 16 was founded in 1962 by a group of Explorer Scouts who set out to make 16mm films of their adventures in the wild. In the course of making the films, the scouts realized there was a real need for safe and sturdy backpacks for hiking. For eight years, the group made backpacks in La Mesa, Calif., before the manufacturing company was sold in...

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