Beaver Creek’s Alpine Kind provides ‘one-of-a-kind’ mountain-themed gifts and apparel
Shop in Beaver Creek works with local artists and other creators
Alpine Kind/Courtesy photo
Business name: Alpine Kind
Location: Beaver Creek Village
Date opened: May, 2018
Owner: Sally January
Contact information: Email sally@alpinekind.com
What goods or services do you provide? Alpine Kind is a mountain-themed gift and apparel boutique that provides a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, unique to Beaver Creek.
What¹s new or exciting at your place of business? Alpine Kind is focused on providing well-sourced outdoor-themed apparel and gifts that promote an outdoor lifestyle for the entire family. We are making an effort to partner with local nonprofits, like the Gore Range Gravity Alliance and the Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance, to promote an outdoor lifestyle not only in our shop and to the guests of Beaver Creek, but within the community.
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What strategy do you use to differentiate your business from your competition? We challenge ourselves to curate gifts and apparel that you never knew you needed or existed. We strive to be unique by partnering with dozens of local artists to create goods that visitors can take home to remind them of their trip to the mountains.
What philosophy do you follow in dealing with your customers? What can your customers expect from you? It is my job to curate gifts and apparel that any visitor to the Beaver Creek village would want to take with them, special to the mountains. You can expect a high-energy, passionate conversation about how much I love Beaver Creek, the outdoors and how much I love collaborating with all of the amazing creatives I have surrounded myself with here in the valley.
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Tell us a little about your background, education, and experience: My background is actually in education. I have a master’s degree in bilingual education and was the bilingual director for a charter school district in Oklahoma for 10 years before I opened my business.
My teenage years were spent living and studying in Colima, Mexico. This experience left me with more wanderlust and imagination than the educational field could give me. Thus, I started my business, collaborating with indigenous artisans in Southern Mexico. Initially, I only sold wholesale and quickly had over 300 stores nationally and internationally carrying my line, including Nordstrom. Between the pandemic, a divorce and a move to Colorado, our business model quickly changed to the mountain lifestyle. While we still sell our wholesale line, our retail storefront in Beaver Creek has become our main focus. We are now able to focus on empowering local artisans while providing a unique shopping experience in the village.
What is the most humorous thing that has happened at your business since you opened? The last thing I want to do is poke fun at customers, but I am in retail. I am one of the luckiest people on Earth to get the opportunity to meet and observe some of the most fascinating, but also comical people and situations that you cannot even make up. A lady from Texas just last week pointed her finger straight at me and said “Little Lady, do you want some advice?”
Reluctantly, I headed over to her. She said, “I just want you to know that everything in here is overpriced. Do you see this stuffed animal? I got it for $2 cheaper in Texas and I think you should know.” If you live in or anywhere around Vail, one would understand that the pricing structure is a tad different up here. As an almost 40-year-old business owner, I just smiled and said, “Thank you for the advice, I hope you have a wonderful day”. And now, I can’t stop laughing. ‘Tis the season! Here is a friendly reminder to be kind to retail workers this season! Cheers!
