Outdoor Gear Exchange has eliminated dozens of jobs since the start of last year as it seeks to cut costs amid a challenging retail environment, co-owner Marc Sherman told Seven Days on Wednesday.

Sherman confirmed that OGE recently laid off nearly a dozen employees during the local outfitter's latest round of cuts. The company has also chosen not to fill some positions left vacant due to attrition and now employs roughly 70 full- and part-time workers — down from about 140 just a year ago.

The cuts come as OGE contends with a second consecutive year of lagging sales at its flagship Burlington store, where Sherman said there has been a noticeable reduction of foot traffic, especially during the non-tourist months.



"We really needed to rightsize our staffing around our sales projections and realign in terms of how many people we could afford to support," he said.

OGE announced last fall that it was downsizing its Burlington store and opening a second location in Essex in an attempt to reach more suburban shoppers. The storefront, which opened in November, has helped recoup some lost business, Sherman said, but sales were still down 30 to 40 percent during the recent holiday season.

Much of that appears to be due to changing work and shopping habits, Sherman said. More people are working from home, and with many stores cutting back on hours, shoppers have fewer reasons to come downtown. 
Another potential factor in Sherman’s view: More people seem to be buying into the “unfounded” perception that the Queen City has become less safe. “Burlington is perfectly safe, although there are uncomfortable aspects of our community for people,” he said.

Sherman offered his thoughts on downtown when speaking to Vermont lawmakers on Tuesday.

Testifying in favor of a bill that would increase penalties for retail theft, Sherman reflected on a sense of “lawlessness” that seems to be permeating in Burlington, where police data show a dramatic spike in low-level property crimes. He warned that the city will suffer a "steady decline" if retail theft isn't reined in.

Sherman said OGE tracked more than $200,000 in lost merchandise in 2023 and suspects that just as much was stolen without any notice. Add in the more than $100,000 in security guards brought in to combat shoplifting, and retail theft cost the company some $500,000 last year alone, Sherman said.

“This is not sustainable, and calls our presence downtown and as a business at all into question,” Sherman said. 

Sherman told Seven Days that he believes the latest layoffs would help the company remain sustainable.

"I’ll be really clear, though," he added. "If we don’t see people coming downtown and shopping with us — and all the other retailers — we may have to make additional changes."