Backcountry.com is bringing about 15 to 20 new employees to its Park City offices this fall.
The online outdoor retailer is already one of Summit County’s largest employers. These are not new positions; they will be transfers from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Backcountry.com recently purchased online retailer CompetitiveCyclist.com. The acquisition rounds out the number of companies owned by Backcountry.com to 10. The site is also its fifth online retail site for cycling.
CompetitiveCyclist.com‘s co-founder, Brendan Quirk, will become Backcountry.com‘s new general manager for the cycling division.
The company made offers to about 55 Arkansas workers to move to Utah to work in either the Redstone Village offices or at the warehouse in West Valley City. About 40 are estimated to make the move, and about half those will come to Summit County.
“I’m super excited on a personal level because its an incredible place to live as a cyclist,” Quirk said in an interview. “It’s a winter wonderland that we don’t have access to.”
Combining companies made sense, Quirk added, because his firm knows the cycling industry, but could never achieve the distribution sophistication of Backcountry.com.
The West Valley City facility is “physically speaking, the most formidable thing going on,” he said.
But telecommuting would make it difficult for everyone to perform at a top level, he said.
Backcountry.com CEO Jill Layfield said CompetitiveCyclist.com is very similar in culture and philosophy to her company. It was a “natural fit.”
“We have a lot of experience selling gear online, and the Competitive Cyclist team is expert at building a bike business.
She said her company wants to increase its market share in the cycling business because consumers have been making more purchases online.
“Our intent is to give each industry the attention it deserves,” she said.