2020 Recap & "Shareholder" Report

2020 Recap &
"Shareholder" Report

We can't thank you enough for an amazing 2020. While this year no doubt had some unique challenges - to put it mildly - we were blown away by your support all year long.

We believe small business and Main Street America have a lot of life left in them. And since we don’t have shareholders like Amazon or the big box stores, we think it’s important every year to celebrate our own version of a “shareholder” report directly with you.

There is always the risk that sharing this type of information can come off heavy handed or boastful or just land the wrong way. Please know that’s not our intent. We share and celebrate these things humbly with you for three specific reasons.

It’s our way of keeping ourselves accountable to you by doing what we said we were going to do when we started our business.

It’s our way of illustrating the potential for how powerful shopping small can still be.

And it’s our way of honoring the investment you make in our family, staff, and community every time you spend your hard earned dollars with us.

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Donated to local non-profits and civic groups in 2020

The Chattooga Conservancy

$10,757

The Chattooga Conservancy

The mission of the Conservancy is to protect, promote and restore the natural ecological integrity of the Chattooga River watershed ecosystem. These funds were raised in 2 ways. As part of our 1% Initiative for the months of July through September and through an ongoing t-shirt fundraiser we have hosted in our store.

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Paws4Life

$8,250

Paws4Life

Rabun Paws 4 Life is a no-kill animal control shelter that cares for and protects animals from abuse neglect and abandonment. These funds were raised as part of our 1% Initiative for the months of October through December and went directly to providing the shelter with resources for supplies.

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F.A.I.T.H.

$3,150

F.A.I.T.H.

F.A.I.T.H. or Fight Abuse In The Home provides free services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse in Northeast Georgia. These funds were raised as part of our 1% Initiative for the months of April through June and went directly to providing shelter services.

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Food Bank of Northeast Georgia

$8,850

Food Bank of Northeast Georgia

These funds were raised during the Spring COVID quarantine period when we did a t-shirt fundraiser to simultaneously raise money for our staff and the Food Bank. The funds were used to provide meals for local families during the challenging time.

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Orianne Society

$3,400

Orianne Society

The Orianne Society is one of the leading organizations for the conservation of reptiles and amphibians by focusing on the science and conservation of their critical habitats. These funds were raised as part of our 1% Initiative for the months of January through March and went directly to conservation efforts of reptiles and amphibians.

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Black In Appalachia

$2,460

Black In Appalachia

Black in Appalachia is highlighting the history of African-Americans in the development of the region by raising the visibility on the contributions of Black communities in the Mountain South. These funds were raised as part of a new initiative we started in 2020 to amplify black voices in our book section with 100% of the proceeds of every book sale going directly to the project.

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Wander With Diversity Grant

$2,500

Wander With Diversity Grant

These funds are a part of a new initiative we launched in 2020 to help amplify BIPOC representation in North Georgia and the outdoor industry. We established two yearly grants of $2,500 each for BIPOC owned and operated organizations with an outdoor focus and majority BIPOC constituency in an effort to decrease racial and cultural inequities in the outdoors.

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Local Schools

$1,600

Local Schools

These funds were raised as part of our Rabun Red hat program where $10 of every one of our Red Classic Logo hats goes to the local high school band booster program.

While 2020 and COVID presented us with challenges like we have never experienced before, it also taught us some lessons that we want to make sure we carry forward with us into the future. Particularly as it relates to our staff.

• We lowered our Amazon spending by 87%.

• We achieved the majority of this by switching our supply ordering to a local small business in Toccoa, Georgia. We switched purchasing our shipping supplies to a family run business in Gainesville, Georgia. And we now purchase as many of our operational items as we could from small or regional businesses.

• We shipped to all 50 states for the first time ever!

Trash Picked Up Through Organized Cleanup Hikes

Single Use Shopping Bags Eliminated

In 2020, we also doubled down on our commitment to local makers and artists and increased their product offerings by 75%!

within a 100 mile radius we stocked items from . . .

35 Makers, Artists, & Small Businesses representing over 225+ items

and from across the country an additional . . .

25 Makers, Artists, & Small Businesses representing another 195+ items

To make our Wander clothing line even more sustainable, we switched our longsleeve t-shirts to a material made with American Grown Cotton.

We also switched all of our sweatshirts and hoodies to a material that is made with organic cotton and recycled materials with USA yarns.

Additionally, we introduced a new material that all of our Classic Logo shirts will be printed on in 2021 that is made from 25% organic US grown cotton, 50% recycled plastic bottles, and 25% tencel modal from renewable beech trees. All made with yarn that is spun, knit, fabric dyed and finished in the USA.

it was a hell of a 2020 and we can’t wait to see where 2021 takes us