Deciding on a new waterproof shell, backpack, or pair of ski pants isn鈥檛 easy. High-end gear is expensive, so you want to make sure you鈥檙e getting the best bang for your buck. You can try on clothing in a store or wear it around your house before throwing away the receipt and committing, but you never really know how it鈥檚 going to perform until you spend a day sweating and moving through the mountains in it.
Lucky for us, then, that a company notorious for its high prices is starting a free demo program. As part of Gear Library, company听stores now feature听on-site collections of apparel, backpacks, and boots available for people to check out for up to four days. Pick the pieces you want to test (as many as you desire, depending on availability), put down a deposit equal to half the retail value of your chosen items, and the gear is yours to use and abuse. When you return the equipment after the allotted time, you鈥檒l get the deposit back.
Arc鈥檛eryx guarantees it听won鈥檛 hold your deposit if you bring back damaged or worn products. Instead,听it鈥檒l repair the items and rotate them听back into the gear library鈥檚 circulation, put them听to use in its quality-control lab, or recycle the fabrics for other uses. However,听there is a $20-per-day late fee.
Stephanie Jamieson, global retail marketing manager for Arc鈥檛eryx, says the program is intended as much for brand loyalists who want to test out the latest gear听as it is for new customers intimidated by 础谤肠鈥檛别谤测虫鈥檚 high prices, and even those who are simply missing a rain shell or pack for their weekend trip. With employees available to bookend the demo experience by answering questions, Arc鈥檛eryx is hoping that the program becomes a kind of extension and enhancement of the in-store shopping experience.
Gear demoing has been around听for years in specialty bike and ski shops, where you can go to test-drive high-end hard goods on snow or the trail.听But according to Matt Powell, senior sports-industry adviser at the , this is the first time it has made its way into the apparel industry, and he expects we鈥檒l see more brands roll out similar programs in the near future. Samantha Searles, director of market and consumer research at the , thinks the concept could help drive an increase in sales and loyalty, particularly when it comes to specialized听big-ticket items that are difficult to buy blind. 鈥淭he model could work for brands听that focus听on technical apparel for a specific purpose,鈥 she says. While the demo program won鈥檛 turn a profit directly, it could help get people hooked on Arc鈥檛eryx听gear, driving sales in the long term.
Currently,听access to the gear library is limited to brick-and-mortar Arc鈥檛eryx locations听in North America鈥18 across the U.S. and Canada鈥攑lus one in London. (Each store curates a unique collection of demo gear based on the local climate, terrain, and popular activities.)听In the future, however, Jamieson says the program could expand to online.
Of course听this doesn鈥檛 make that $700 jacket you鈥檝e been eyeing any cheaper, but at least now you can make your purchase with some confidence that it听will听perform听the way you need once you rip off the tags.听