Niche travel store Tent and Trails thriving in hard times

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNew York

March 10, 2008

While the too-hot Euro is dissuading some American travelers from flocking to London and Paris, one New York travel shop owner who specializes in adventure says this is one of the busiest times for her small business.

Jamie Abish, co-owner of Tent and Trails at 21 Park Place in the Financial District, says despite the slow economy, her 49-year-old family business continues to bank on New York's bold and brave adventurers.

"The industry has definitely grown," says Abish. "People are feeling more risky. Fifteen years ago I'd be selling a lot of stuff for kayaking and going to the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon. Now there's much more international adventure travel."

This year, the peaks of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro and Nepal's Mount Everest top the list of destination hot spots, she says, along with the mountains of South America.

What's more -- among her shoppers, women are the fastest-growing group, as more female-friendly gear, clothing and equipment enter the market.

Walk through the store and it is abundantly clear the industry has no shortage of products. Tent and Trail carries everything from mountaineering boots to UV-resistant tents, first-aid kits and expedition stoves.

Abish often jokes that her 6,000-square-foot store is actually jam-packed with 10,000 square feet of merchandise.

"We're the old supply store that can help you get your 1 ton of stuff up to Alaska. We can outfit you," she says.

One of the newer, more popular items in the store is a $500 AvaLung, an emergency device that helps people breathe in the event of an avalanche. "To an ordinary citizen, that sounds like a strange thing. Not if you are in avalanche country," Abish says.

She began working in the store at age 12, manning the register alongside her father, Harry Lipman, who founded the business in 1959.

"For most kids, monopoly was a game. For me it was vocational training," she says.

Abish now runs the business with her younger sister, Heather Lipman, who recently got back from an adventure in Costa Rica. She traveled there to teach her two children the ecology of the rain forest and to see the sea turtles.

Abish says she also feels less risk-averse these days and is hoping to spend more time abroad in the coming years.

"For a while, I questioned whether I wanted to go to the Antarctic," she says. "I want to do Kilimanjaro."