A quick and dirty version
Backpackinglight.dk was founded in 2008 and was one of Europe’s first lightweight outdoor stores. Kenneth Shaw has been running the blog Ultralightandcomfortable since 2010 and has also written the book *Ultralight and Comfortable*. Ken is considered one of the first in Scandinavia to write about and promote lighter outdoor living. Ken had become hooked on lightweight hiking as early as the 1990s in his home region of Northern California. In 2021, Marcus joined the business; he has extensive experience in marketing as well as a genuine interest in the outdoors, and Ken and Marcus have been hiking and fishing together since the early 2000s.
Goals & Ambitions:
- To give you, the consumer, access to the best gear for exactly what you want to do!
- To make your hiking experience more fun, safer, and easier!
- To equip you with gear that’s both lightweight and practical, along with the knowledge to keep you safe and warm even in the most extreme weather conditions!
Kenneth Shaw
Owner/CEO of Backpackpackinglight AB and expert in lightweight gear:
Kenneth Shaw has hiked all over the world, covering thousands of kilometers on foot in every kind of condition since he was a young child in the U.S. Since 2011, he has run a blog onUlcomfort.com that has become one of the world’s most popular resources on ultralight hiking, and he has written a book on the subject titled “Ultralight and Comfortable.” Ken is an entrepreneur who has run several companies over the years and also has many years of experience as a CEO and executive in both the private and public sectors.
Marcus Falck
Marketing Manager/Owner, Backpackpackinglight AB
Marcus has extensive experience in the media industry, where he has served as CEO and owner of Reklamlandslaget and as owner and project manager of Grit Media. Marcus has a deep passion for fishing and has spent countless days along rivers, streams, and lakes in the Lapland mountains.
Skalmo
We’re obsessed with ultralight gear. So we came up with the brilliant idea of manufacturing our own right here in Umeå. We didn’t want to just take cheap gear made in Asia and slap a logo on it. We wanted to develop classic designs and also create entirely new ones. So in 2018, we launched Sweden’s only manufacturer of ultralight gear. Designed, tested, and manufactured in Umeå. Read more about Skalmo here
About Us—The Long Version
We’re a small company based in Umeå, Sweden. Owned and run by Kenneth Shaw and Marcus Falck. We don’t hire a big PR firm, an external customer service team, or a call center, for that matter. We have no pricing bots, executives, or foreign owners. We’re simply a small company with big ambitions—our goal is to offer the world’s best outdoor gear at a reasonable price to customers in Sweden and throughout Europe. To do this, we must ensure that our customers are the happiest in Europe. We go the extra mile for our customers. We don’t always succeed, but we do the best we can.
Why an Online Store?
There are several reasons why I started an online store first instead of a brick-and-mortar store. When I was planning to open Backpackinglight, I knew that we (my wife, my son, and I) would be moving back to Umeå in northern Sweden. When I opened my store, we were living in Stockholm. So the idea of opening a brick-and-mortar store just to close it and move it to Umeå wasn’t very appealing at the time.
But our goal has always been to open a store in Umeå, and now it’s here. Welcome to Förrådsvägen 22 in Umeå, where you can see and touch all the gear you’ll find on Backpackinglight.se
My thoughts on an online store:
There’s often a prejudice against online stores—that they lack a personal touch, have no operating costs, and thus undermine brick-and-mortar stores; that they don’t represent brands in a positive light; and so on.
I’ve done my best and am still working hard to represent the brands and products I love in the best ways I can. I use these products, I believe in them, I try to make videos, host Tupperware parties to showcase them, and more. While it’s not the same as being in a physical store, my perception and hope—in many ways—is that the experience will be better. In a physical store, you never know who’s trying to sell a product, whether they’ve used the product, or if they even care. While there are exceptions to this rule, my guess is that many of the major retailers hire whatever staff they can find, rather than experts who know what they’re selling.
I make videos because I want you, as a customer, to know that I’m familiar with the equipment I sell. I want you to have confidence in our store and in the passion I have for what I do. My costs aren’t any lower than those of a brick-and-mortar store—I still have to pay people to pack and ship orders, rent warehouse space, cover logistics costs, pay for business software, hosting services, taxes, customs duties, and fees everywhere. Furthermore, my purchasing power is much lower than that of many of the large stores, which means I don’t get the big discounts on purchases that many brick-and-mortar stores receive. As if that weren’t enough, many manufacturers are reluctant to sell to online stores because of the perceived “pros and cons” associated with them.
Last but not least
I hope that with Backpackinglight I can change the perception many people have of online stores—and I’m doing my best to keep everything running. I’m aware that our product descriptions aren’t always the best, but we’re doing our best to update them as quickly as possible. And, if you have any feedback you’d like to share, please do! We love hearing from our customers!
Channels
YouTube: www.youtube.com/backpackinglightse
Instagram: Backpackinglight.se