KAMP, a boutique along South Jefferson Avenue in the Cherokee neighborhood of St. Louis that specializes in outdoor and travel products, will close-up shop on Sunday, March 31. The store will host a 40-percet off sale to liquidate all remaining inventory, to begin immediately.

“Opening an outdoor retail business in the city of St. Louis was a gamble, and we knew that from the beginning” said Jason Gray, co-owner. “Our goal has always been to work within our community along South Jefferson to introduce outdoor experiences and to facilitate learning and recreation opportunities for local residents, especially kids. I feel proud to say that we did that largely successfully, along with some truly remarkable partners, but the other side of that coin is that we needed people already interested in the outdoors to be willing to travel to us to shop and be a part of our experience. I feel like we failed to reach that audience in any meaningful way, and so our brick-and-mortar operations have just become unsustainable.”

Since opening on March 7, 2018, KAMP has been the recipient of several awards and industry mentions, including a St. Louis Magazine Editor’s Choice AList Award, a Terrain Magazine Reader’s Choice Award, and a focus segment in the first issue of The Voice (the Outdoor Industry’s national publication) on the store’s work diversifying the outdoors in St. Louis and beyond. KAMP also raised over $4,000 in material donations for non-profit Gateway to the Great Outdoors, and supported numerous community causes both financially and materially.

KAMP’s owners plan to remain an active entity in the outdoor industry, whether through pop-up shops, leading hikes, teaching outdoor skills, supporting other outdoor efforts in the area, or by producing inclusive media content for outdoor vendors.