What once began as a small business has now become one of the region’s top outdoor sporting stores. Idaho Mountain Trading, otherwise known as the mountain sports shop, is a local outdoors shop that opened in 1977 and has significantly grown over the years.
Richard Napier, owner of Idaho Mountain Trading, and former engineer, decided one day that he didn’t want to continue climbing the corporate ladder. “I wasn’t happy climbing up the corporate ladder so I decided to do something different.”
He took his passion for the outdoors and set out on a new business venture. In the beginning, Richard’s passion for the outdoors came from his enthusiasm for cross country skiing and backpacking. He took both of those passions and the original Idaho Mountain Trading shop specialized in cross-country skiing supplies and backpacking.
The original location of IMT was in the building that Pachanga’s lives in now. The square footage of the building was just too big for the inventory they were selling, so Richard asked the landlord to split it in half, totaling 1,800 square feet.
“That was still too big for us,” Richard said. “I built a 200 square foot apartment inside there and I lived there for the first two years.”
Richard describes the first few years of his new business venture as long. “I was working 40 hours at the store during the day and then I waited tables at the Sandpiper during the nights,” he said.
The long days and even longer nights began to pay off.
In 1979, they decided to bring in bicycles, creating the need for a bigger building. “We leased the other half of the building and expanded into 3,600 square feet,” Richard said. IMT remained in this location until 1985 when they relocated again to an even bigger building.
With 6,000 square feet, they stayed in that location until 2014 when their current building became available. They then relocated to its current location, a building of 12,000 square feet.
“We’ve just grown and grown,” Richard said.
Through the many ups and downs of owning a business, Richard and his family have overcome those challenges and gratefully built a successful business. “Richard has seen how many businesses come and go in the outdoor industry,” Cindy Napier, wife of Richard, explains. Cindy has worked at the shop for over 20 years and has been a critical part of the business as well.
The sustainable growth and success that IMT has seen over the years in the heart of downtown is nothing short of remarkable. “A lot of that growth comes from being a family-owned business,” Cindy shares. “No one cares more than your family.”
Today, IMT is now one of the most popular outdoor shops in the area and will continue on for generations to come.
Richard’s son and co-owner, Davin, plans to carry on the legacy of Idaho Mountain Trading. Davin’s experience at the shop began at just 8 years old where he would work until he went off to college at age 18. In 2012, he returned and has been a critical part of the shop since.
Richard describes IMT as a “jack of all trades.” The shop sells everything from skis to snowboards to cross-country skis to bikes to car rack systems to backpacking and climbing equipment and even to a large clothing wear/footwear department.
“The type of clothing you would think is just for outdoors is actually great for everyday casual wear too because it lasts longer,” Cindy said. “You get more bang for your buck with what you’re buying.”
Each department has a variety of products and accessories, giving customers a huge selection to pick from.
And aside from the products they sell, IMT is also known for its foot measuring and boot fitting services. “We pride ourselves in our boot fit, whether it's snowboard boots, ski boots, hiking boots or running boots,” Richard said. “ Especially when it comes to Alpine boots, we do what is called punching the boots where we heat them up and make them fit the anatomy of your foot.”
“We manipulate the boots sometimes for a better fit, so you can wear them for hours and hours,” Cindy said. “So you can ski hard and ski fast.”
Each staff member at IMT has incredible knowledge and passion for outdoor sports, so when a customer comes in, they are attuned with their needs. “Everyone here is passionate about sports so when we’re assisting someone in finding the right gear, we know how critical it is to stay warm or how critical it is for your boots to fit properly,” Richard explains.
IMT’s commitment to customer service is seen as soon as you step through the door. Each customer is met with a passionate and caring salesperson at any given time.
“We care about the experience our customers have and you can’t really get that when shopping online,” Cindy said. “We really try to strive to elevate that experience for people so that they're not tempted to push the buy now button and come see us instead.”
As a local shop, IMT has long been a part of the community and the whole region of East Idaho. IMT has been a proud sponsor of several races and events in and around the area. (Richard himself has put on more than 50 races.)
IMT’s participation in the community extends to nurturing the youth with sponsorships and their lease program. Parents are able to lease equipment for their children without the commitment in the case the child grows fast or decides to pick up a different sport the next year.
Another important project that IMT has taken on is building a bike park outside of town. “The city has given us about 25 acres to build the bike park so we have a lot of excitement from that,” Davin said. “We’re all grateful for business and also for how we operate in the community.”
The growth that Idaho Mountain Trading and Idaho Falls have seen over the years is something they embrace over at IMT. “We welcome those moving to our community with open arms and want it to be a pleasant experience for everyone,” Cindy said.