Growing up skiing, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, and trying just about every other outdoor activity you can think of, Greg Bauer was frustrated that there was no one-stop-shop for all his vehicle outfitting needs. He was tired of visiting store after store, talking to salesmen who had never even tried the products they were attempting to sell. There was a massive gap in the booming outdoor sports market and Greg saw an opportunity to create a new kind of store, one that would offer everything you need to get outdoors. One that was built for the adventurers, by the adventurers.
In 1991, Greg, along with his cousin, brother and best friend, took a chance and reached out to the top manufacturers – Yakima and Thule – to pitch this new concept. After several weeks of hesitation, It was Yakima who initially decided to take the risk and give Greg and his team a go. With an opening order and a storefront (if you could even call it that) in Redwood City, Sports Rack was born.
By 1999, Greg was on top of the world. With the help of his family and some awesome newcomers picked up along the way, Greg had grown Sports Rack to 16 stores in the Western United states. They were the second largest reseller in the country, next to REI – a feat so great they would have been happy to retire at 35. They also started a manufacturing company, BVG, which had a high profile list of clients, such as BMW, Landrover, Thule, and Yakima.
As a testament that not everything goes to plan, Greg spent the next decade navigating growing pains and dealing with a series of hits from what seemed to come from all directions (2008 ring a bell?) This led the team to restructure and simplify their business model, ultimately consolidating their stores to seven locations and selling BVG to Thule. With a rebrand to RackNRoad and the confidence that his stores were on the path to success, Greg made the decision to sell the stores back to the management team that helped build the company from the start. Today, RackNRoad locally owns and operates seven stores in San Jose, San Rafael, Sacramento, Costa Mesa, Seattle, Bellevue and Salt Lake City.
Why RackNRoad? Because we know racks and hitches. Outfitting vehicles is our life. 50,000 vehicles, 35,000 installs, over the last 30 years. We no longer advertise, we just rely on our customers to speak for us. After all, our customer is our biggest advocate.
We give the best customer service possible…every time. It’s all about our customers! We treat each customer like a guest, uncovering their needs to ensure they walk away with confidence and return with excitement.
It’s all about family! We promote a fun and family style workplace. We treat our employees fairly and with respect and give them to tools to be successful and provide the best customer service possible.
Every day there are new people to meet, new challenges, each year there are different vehicles to outfit, the changing of the seasons change the goals and needs of our customers. There’s no endless monotony for our employees, we like to change it up and keep it interesting.
Our Journey with Rack N Road goes back 30 years. They are one of the premier rack and vehicle outfitting stores in the country. Together we have built the category!
Yakima has worked directly with Rack N Road on new product launches, ensuring that we’re making the best possible product for our customers. We’re thankful for the true partnership we’ve established with Rack N Road.
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