Hi there, Good morning from a new USA. However you're taking the news, I hope you find strength in your values and the support of those around you. A walk in nature is always nice - I took a walk to a nearby park this morning to reflect. If at some point today and in the next few days you're looking for a distraction, come back to this email. In reflecting on my values, I thought about why I started Last Minute Gear. By the stats, most Americans go camping 1-2 times per year. I probably would've been in that statistic, but by chance, I was invited to an inner city youth organization in high school that took us on the most amazing camping, backpacking, canoeing, and kayaking trips. My parents, being deeply indoorsy people, didn't have any gear (and definitely weren't going to buy any), but the organization had a library we could borrow freely from. The ability to go on these trips, and have access to that gear, really changed the trajectory of my life. In my early 20's, I found myself going camping or backpacking at least monthly. There are so many proven benefits to being in nature and I was basking in it. But I quickly realized that for many people, including friends I was trying to get outside with, the outdoors weren't such an accessible place. And the seed long ago planted by that youth organization - their gear library - began to sprout. What if I could give people access to gear the same way I had gotten it as a child? If you've been keeping up with Last Minute Gear this year, especially over the last month, you know that the early years of success were really derailed by COVID. I'm now on literally the final, ultimate, last chance experiment to save the business. And it's come back to this question of access. I get that people don't want to come to downtown San Francisco for a myriad of reasons. So instead, I'm setting up outposts where folks can more conveniently pick up and drop off their rental gear in their own neighborhood, around the city of San Francisco. I hope that now you can pick up gear easily next time you walk your pet, grab groceries, go out to eat, or run another errand. To further boost accessibility, while we're delivering to outposts, we can also do home deliveries for a small fee. And for folks who are returning to work downtown, you're always welcome to pick up from our central location by Union Square, self-service 24/7. I haven't been able to raise additional funds yet to do this experiment - but my commitment to my values means I'm still going to work on it. That said, still very open to discussions or intros to folks passionate about these values and this mission who might want to support it financially. Until then, frankly, how long we do this depends on our landlord's continued support, and what volume we see - please rent from us!
We currently have outposts at: - Game Post of SF - SOMA/South Beach - West Coast Leather - Marina/Cow Hollow - Simple - Cole Valley/Haight Ashbury - BerryClean - Potrero Hill - Kelly's Boutique - Mission (our last retail store location!!!) - Port Labs - Oakland Downtown | 
