From the Archives - A Look at Kenco in 2005

When you've been around as long as we have, you tend to accumulate... stuff. We've got a LOT of stuff tucked away here, like order books from trade shows in 2015, binders full of old postcards and ads that date back to 2008, even catalogs from Christmas 1984 - YES, we used to publish CATALOGS. 

The other day, Bill, the store owner, dropped two folded, yellowing newspaper sections on my desk, from the spring of 2005, that had been tucked into a folder these past 21 years. 

First, a short feature from the front page of the Sunday Freeman's Business section, March 27th, 2005. 

Kenco accepts the challenges of competition

By Jonathan Ment, Freeman Staff
TOWN OF ULSTER - The town Planning Board has spent recent months reviewing development plans from large retailers of outdoor gear and supplies. One, Minnesota-based Gander Mountain, is to open this spring in the plaza anchored by Wal-Mart. The other, Kenco, which calls itself "the work and play outfitter," has been a community fixture for 22 years.

Kenco began as a basement operation in Bill Kennedy's parents' home. His father, Harry, sold equipment for manufacturers' "eye programs," geared toward Occupations Safety and Health Administration compliance. Gloves, hard-hats and other goods for factories followed. 

Then and accident prompted a move that would prompt the business to move out of the basement and into a storefront on Rock City Road in Woodstock. 

Bill Kennedy said after suffering a chain-saw injury, he reasoned there should be protective garb for that sort of work. So he found a product line, and the family started selling it. After advertising in timber industry publications, those in the business started showing up at the house early in the morning. 

Kennedy's mother, Libby, would cook them breakfast and show them the products.

Finally, Harry Kennedy suggested the business move out of the house. Work boots and clothing would follow, and eventually everything from wallets to kayaks. 

"We had two orders that put us into this business," Bill Kennedy said. For Ulster County, Kenco took on the Red Wing line of work boots to outfit highway employees. Later, for General Electric, Kenco began selling Carhartt work coats.

With Carhartt pants, Libby Kennedy insisted Kenco carry every size so that all customers could find the right fit.

"The store just kind of took off," Bill Kennedy said. 

A second location followed with safety equipment in one building and outdoor gear in the other. Then, in 1996, Kenco moved into its current store on state Route 28, a mile west of the Thruway Exit 19.

Sales are about equally split between customers buying for work and recreational customers, and both can choose from numerous brands. 

The aisles at the 15,000-square-foot store have always been tight, but that should change under the store's pllan to invest half a million dollars and add 6,800 square feet.

Bill Kennedy's brother, James, is a licensed optician with a shop on Kenco's second floor and the family plans to expand on that part of the business with a licensed optometrist on ground level. Plans also include a complementary business - "like a bike store or fishing," Bill Kennedy said.

"But Gander Mountain scares the heck out of me," he admitted. "They're the hunting and fishing kings."

Harry Kennedy, now in his 80s, has cut back on his hours, and Liby Kennedy has been battling health problems that have forced her to take it easy, so their sons' hours have been long.

Bill Kennedy said the first challenge for a new business is staying in business, and the next is getting it past the mom-and-pop stage. Now he's working on getting to the level where Kenco can function without his daily involvement in every aspect. He's recruiting people from each department, from snowshoes to ladies' underwear, to help order for and run those departments. 

Kenco's staff now totals 24, with more than half working part-time,

From April 1-3, Kenco will hold its first-ever spring tent and storewide sale, dubbed the "inside-out sale."  

The second newspaper Bill handed to me is from just over a week later, April 5th, 2005. It's just a couple photos taken by Bill and his son and current store manager, Wynter, with a headline "Not a day for a drive" and a brief caption.

Sunday was certainly no day to attempt to drive on state Route 28 in the town of Ulster, but Bill Kennedy (at right), whose company Kenco sells kayaks, found it easily navigable. Kennedy's store can be seen in the photo above, which is looking west-bound along the flooded highway. Route 28 reopened to traffic in both directions Monday at 1:39p.m. after the water receded, according to state police at Ulster.

April 2nd and 3rd that year dropped quite a heavy rainfall on the area, including the Ashokan and Rondout Reservoirs, their spillways, and the creek basins of the Esopus and Rondout Creeks. Rainfall was measured at 2-6" over 36 hours in the region and, coupled with spring snowmelt, resulted in historic floods for many of our neighbors. In the photos, taken from 28 just west of what is now the Domes Dispensary, you can see the floodwaters, and beyond that, the store as it looked before that 6,800 square foot expansion that now holds our footwear department downstairs, and our archery range upstairs. We have since added on AGAIN, a bit over 300 square feet that initially held an outpost of Abandoned Cider for hyperlocal craft refreshments, but now holds our fishing department. The additional photo shows Bill in a kayak, floating eye level to the Route 28 sign - the water level is about 12 inches below the bottom of the sign itself. 

For the last 44 years, we have risen to challenges, whether they are expected or extraordinary, and taken them head-on, sometimes in our own unique way. We are so humbled and grateful for our community here in the Hudson Valley who have supported us this far come "scares the heck out of me" or high water, many of whom we consider our friends, not just customers. We look forward for serving you all for many more years.