A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

The McKenzie River runs along 400 feet of Jerry and Gloria Godfrey's four acres above Walterville.

But the river runs deeper in their family's business as the inspiration for its name: McKenzie Outfitters.

The river is where the Godfreys wanted to live; the business is what they've wanted to do ever since moving to the area from Seattle in 1966.

Jerry Godfrey was an elevator repairman then. But he was tired of being on-call all hours, of lugging a 40-pound toolbox up endless flights of stairs, of dangling in dark elevator shafts.

For 11 years, he and Gloria dreamed of opening their own business.

Now 64 and retired for the past two years, Godfrey looks back on the first four years of the business with the easy smile of a guy who has paid his dues. Back then, he worked in their store on his lunch hours and weekends while continuing to fix elevators.

He credits Gloria's knack for sales and skill with people for getting the business off the ground. The store quickly built a loyal customer base with Gloria out front and Jerry in back doing the buying and bookkeeping.

"It was a way to get started. That's what it takes to build a business," Jerry Godfrey says.

Their timing could hardly have been better, opening in 1977 just as clothing producers were experimenting with breathable waterproof fabrics and other refinements tailoring outdoor gear to the outdoors.

Back then, Columbia Sportswear did $1.5 million in business annually. Today, it does more than $1 billion, says Renelle Reese, Godfrey's daughter and general manager since Godfrey's semiretirement in 2003.

"We became one of Columbia's best customers. At one time, we were their largest customer," Reese says.

The clothing quality and design advances just kept coming, and McKenzie Outfitters rode the wave - adding footwear and gear to meet customer demand.

"Really back then there was no real competition," Godfrey says.

Times change, of course. But Godfrey has never been at a loss for ideas to keep the business in the main current by adding new lines, opening new locations, trying new ideas for promotions, Reese says. The company kept the things that worked, and changed the things that didn't.

Through the years, McKenzie Outfitters opened - and closed - stores in a half-dozen cities. The store still focuses on outdoor clothing, but carries camping, hiking, backpacking and other gear.

For years, Godfrey clung to a downtown store location on Broadway - staying even after other retailers succumbed to a lack of parking, crowds of loiterers and vagrants, and vandalism.

Two years ago, the store moved into 5,400 square feet in the Heron Building on Olive Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. It's turning out to be an ideal setting, with off-street parking and nearby stores that draw customers who also shop McKenzie Outfitters.

"My dad is an entrepreneur. He is always thinking up new things. I have to slow him down a little," Reese says.

Next year, based on the success of kayak sales in the Medford store, Reese has decided that McKenzie Outfitters will add hard-shell, inflatable and sit-on-top kayak sales, rentals and demonstrations to the Eugene store.

"We want to be more consumer-service oriented. We are experts at fitting backpacks and gearing people up for the outdoors. We're looking for a service. I think that will be good," says Reese, 42, who joined the company when she needed a more flexible work schedule after her first child, Mickenzie, was born 14 years ago.

She now has two other children, Morghan, 12, and Mitchell, 10. All three work in the store, organizing merchandise, dusting shelves and cleaning up.

"They put their aprons on and go to work," Reese says.

With club soccer and basketball, the young Reeses keep their parents busy too. Their father, Dan Reese, owns Dan's Specialty Services, a landscaping business focused on maintenance.

For the Reeses, family business puts family first and business a close second.

"We are really busy raising our kids," Reese says. "I leave work at 3 o'clock. I take my kids wherever they need to go. I come back at 8 p.m. when they're in bed. I do that three or four nights a week. That's how I make it work. I have a wonderful staff. I would be nowhere without my team."

Over the years and through its many incarnations, McKenzie Outfitters has had maybe 800 employees in total, Godfrey estimates. Several have found outdoor clothing a career path and now are representatives for companies McKenzie Outfitters buys from, he says.

While the store takes its lead from customer requests, it relies a lot on employee expertise to make the connection, Godfrey says.

One example is John Abernethy, a 54-year-old former bicycle mechanic and outdoor enthusiast.

"John is a great tester. I don't think anybody hikes more than he does. He's never had a driver's license. He bikes and hikes everywhere," Godfrey says.

On the sales floor, Abernethy is a low-key adviser, quick to demonstrate the gear, to point out the nuances, the subtle details that help his customer make an informed decision.

"I'm out (backpacking) three weekends a month, 12 months a year," Abernethy says. "I buy stuff like a wild man. From being a mechanic I'm very technically oriented. It's the easiest way to sell. If you know your equipment, people know you're using the gear and know what you're talking about and not just trying to sell."

His outdoor experience keeps Abernethy in tune with the latest trends, including the move to ultralight packs, camp stoves and other gear.

He passes his knowledge along to store managers who attend the big shows and make the buying decisions for the store.

"Everybody is lightening their load," says Abernethy, who used to lug a 40-pound pack into the woods for a three-day backpacking trip. These days his pack weighs just 26 pounds, without sacrificing any necessities.

It's possible to get a pack and its contents down to 15 pounds for a seven-day trip, Reese says.

"We are watching trends," Reese says. "We get a lot of direction from our customers. What they ask for is what is lacking in the community."

But Reese admits that she gets some direction from Godfrey as well - such as his decision to carry Traeger grills. Godfrey is a fan of the highly versatile wood pellet grills. They are now stocked in a back corner of the store.

Reese teases her dad that she's going to move them out when he's is not looking. He just laughs.

"I always enjoyed work," he says.

McKENZIE OUTFITTERS

Founded: 1977

Address: 566 Olive St., Eugene, and a store in Medford

Owners: Jerry and Gloria Godfrey

Number of employees: 16 at stores in Eugene and Medford