The consignment of used ski gear, and the communal aspect it brings to Whitefish, is going to be a bit farther from Big Mountain next year.

For over three decades, consignment shop Runner Up Sports has played a part in Whitefish’s retail and culture by providing a down-to-earth place to sell and exchange used gear for just about anything outside.

This summer, owner Chad Colby is moving the shop from Whitefish to Columbia Falls. Now, he’s got both nostalgia and moving labors on his mind.

“If you took a photo of this place from the outside in ‘96, nothing has changed,” Colby said. “The business plan was solid, the consignment rates were incredible, it was successful – so I just kept everything the same.”

Even the carpet has stayed the same, Colby joked, much to his vacuuming woes.

The shop first opened at 131 Central Ave. in September 1993 and moved to its current location at 550 East First St. three years later.

As for himself, Colby moved to Whitefish around 1995 with a few bucks and lived in a trailer by City Beach with six or so roommates, he said.

“I skied every day, then came here and tuned skis till two in the morning, and repeat,” he said, then just a back-of-the shop employee.

Around 2003, Colby and a couple other residents went in on the shop together.

Colby “was the last man standing,” he said, and soon found himself at the head of the shop – a dream come true for him.

“I just love it. I always wanted to own a ski shop, and this is the coolest one – people love this place. You leave with a pair of used skis or something, and you’re a winner.”

POINTING out a snowboard bench, a skiboot chandelier, gnarly whitewater posters, and other retro gear-turned functional displays, Colby explained that people who have had a stake in the shop have left behind both memories and memorabilia.

Behind the front desk, there’s also shelves with several feet of stacked papers.

Thousands of consigners over the years have signed an agreement form – each person contributing to the stack, the inventory and the longevity of the store.

The biggest challenge throughout the years came in 2008, Colby said.

“We were really in debt… it was hard to sleep,” he said. “At the lowest point, I would call up my distributors and be like, I have a hundred bucks, I’m sending it.”

The genuine relationships are what kept him in business, he said.

“I was up front. The rest of the industry was hiding.”

It’s an attitude that Colby’s known for in town, too.

“When people walk in the door – they give off a certain vibe, I give it right back,” he said. “It gets me in trouble sometimes.”

As for what Whitefish will be like without that spirit, only time will tell.

“I love this alley,” Colby said. “Doug over at the Northern’s the king, I’m the mayor, JC is the deputy… I take a lot of pride in the alley, discourage people from doing bad things.

When asked who JC was, Colby said, “we don’t use full names in the alley.”

“That’s the thing that’s changed the most, recently,” he reflected. “The way things go in town, the businesses are a little different. The tourists really help … but our business plan is not for them.”

Over the last three decades, Colby’s said he’s been renting month to month at a “very fair rent.”

The building he’s in at 550 East First St. changed ownership recently, and he was given several options to renew his lease for another three years, all still at a very reasonable rate, he said.

Colby even made friends with the new building owner, offering up ski ventures.

But thinking of longevity, he still opted to move to Columbia Falls.

“A friend of mine introduced me to the owners of the Odd Fellows Building in Columbia Falls, and my mortgage there is now much less than anything I could lease in Whitefish,” he said.

People have been supportive thus far, Colby said. He offered the option for consigners to pick up their gear if they didn’t want it transferred to Columbia Falls, but has only had one person elect to do so.

As with the last three decades, the business plan will stay the same in Columbia Falls.

He said he might try to be more oriented toward Glacier Park, though, and would like to keep things going for another decade or so himself before handing off the shop.

The plan is for Runner Up Sports to have a “Thank you Whitefish” hoorah on July 13. They will stay open in Whitefish until July 31. Columbia Falls will open right after on Aug. 1, and there will be another opening hoorah on Aug. 15.

Details on Runner Up Sports’ shop interior. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot)

A ski boot chandelier in Runner Up Sports shop interior. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)