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PROFILE: APPOMATTOX RIVER COMPANY

When Farmville, Virginia, native Bob Taylor met Perception founder Bill Masters back in the mid-70s, he had no idea it would lead to a career change that was all wet. Taylor, a long-time whitewater paddler, bought $2,500 worth of early Perception canoes from Masters and they quickly sold out to locals looking for better boats. Taylor had a new business--which would eventually lead to three stores--and Masters had a paddling friend for life.

“Bill Masters is the smartest guy I’ve ever met in paddlesports,” says Taylor. “In the early days, my wife and I would head to South Carolina, stay at his house, and paddle all sorts of new designs,” Taylor reminisces. “You can still see his innovations in Perception boats and those of other companies.”

Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, Appomattox River Company was founded in Farmville in 1977. Taylor stored those first canoes in one of his father’s construction warehouses, where he’d been working in the family business. He now uses every warehouse his father then owned and typically has around 1,800 boats in storage during the summer.

Along with the Farmville store, Taylor now has shops of the same name in Richmond (1998) and the Yorktown (2000). While competitors have added other sports to their lines, Taylor has stuck to his paddlesports-only specialty--something Virginia-area paddlers seem to appreciate.

When a new or veteran paddler walks into an Appomattox River Company shop, they’re getting more than three decades of the paddling experience of Taylor. Even if he’s not there (though he’s been accused of being in three stores at once), customers are typically talking to a fellow paddler. Taylor normally employees 15-18 people in his three stores and all of them are veteran paddlers or on their way to being one. If they can’t cover the features of a particular boat or accessory, they’ll quickly find someone who can.

“We’ve paddled the boats and we’ve paddled the waters,” says Taylor. “Our success has been due to the people who work here. From my general manager Tom Detrick to our store managers and everyone on the floor or behind the scenes, I think our love of paddling shows. Our repeat business is all the proof I need.”

You can see the ‘repeats’ on any given week from spring to fall. This is thanks to the popular ‘Demo Days’ that Appomattox River Company frequently hosts through the Richmond and Yorktown stores. Along with at least 20 of these days each season, there’s also one huge event at the Farmville warehouse store each year.

“We’ll often have hundreds of people for the Demo Days,” says Detrick, who manages the Appomattox store and acts as general manager for the other two (which have separate managers--Vicki Davis in Richmond and Ben Lawry in Yorktown). “Companies like Perception, Dagger, Wilderness Systems, Wave Sport, Old Town, Necky, and many others have been incredibly supportive of these events.”

Along those lines, top sellers for Taylor include: a range of canoes and kayaks from Old Town; whitewater, touring, and recreational kayaks, as well as canoes, from Dagger; whitewater, touring, and recreational kayaks from Perception; Wilderness Systems touring and recreational kayaks; whitewater kayaks from Pyranha, Prijon, Liquid Logic, and Wave Sport whitewater kayaks; Mad River canoes; Impex composite touring kayaks; and Necky touring, recreational, and sit-on-top kayaks. In addition, all three stores carry an extensive array of accessories, from specialty paddles to virtually anything else a paddler would need.

“We compete with stores that sell much more than paddlesports, but we win and keep customers because of our people, service, and knowledge,” says Taylor, who figures he’s one of a half-dozen or so who’ve been in this particular business since the 70s. “There’s Gordy Sussman out at Rutabaga in Madison, Wisconsin [which he just sold], and some other veterans,” Taylor continues. “But few other paddlesports-specific stores have our longevity.”

But longevity is only part of the Appomattox River Company story. It all goes back to Taylor paddling new designs with Bill Masters in the 70s. After decades of lifting boats onto racks, Taylor still paddles as often as his shoulders allow--his daughter, Harriet, is a nationally ranked freestyle kayaker and video boater for West Virginia’s Class VI River Runners. But, along with regional rivers, you’re also as likely to find Taylor in one of his three stores, talking paddling with anyone who will listen--and he has lots of listeners.

For more information:  (434) 392-6645; www.paddleva.com