SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: yukon outfitters

"A handmade customer experience occurs hundreds of times a week, every week here," Preston Powell, co-owner of Yukon Outfitters explained. "When you're given the privilege of putting another person's or a company's logo or brand on your product, there's a lot of trust involved with that.”

Yukon Outfitters is based right here in Jackson, Tennessee, shipping across the country and supplying custom drinkware to big brands you might recognize, like Buc-ees and Ace Hardware. It supplies drinkware, coolers, dry bags, camping equipment, hunting products, and USA-made hammocks and accessories at a reasonable price, created to serve the customer over anything else. 

Preston Powell and Adam Scherer, co-owners of Yukon Outfitters, were classmates at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, in their China Business Program. They both had spent about a decade working in Asia in quality control and product development since graduating from college when the global economic crash of 2009 left them both out of work. They decided to take a reset fly-fishing trip to the Yukon, and what they found wasn't the outdoor adventure they were hoping for. It was great for a few days, but then everything that could go wrong went wrong. 

"It rained. We got wet. Mosquitoes were horrible. The gear failed us," Preston recalled. “A light bulb clicked for us, and we thought, ‘What if we could make product that was overbuilt but not overpriced?’”

And that’s how Yukon was first born. The brand made its debut on Amazon, back when the site was still mostly known for books, as the first ever featured brand on its Sports & Outdoor page. Hammock camping was the brand’s original trademark, and to this day, Preston and Adam operate the country's largest hammock factory right in Alamo, Tennessee.

But the business has pivoted considerably since then. As social media changed how people engaged with the outdoors, they saw a new opportunity: drinkware. They spotted a gap between overpriced name brands and cheap alternatives, and have developed a product that fits right in the middle.

The business used to operate 100% out of its Alamo facility, but its move to a larger facility in Jackson was driven by growth, geography, and community. All cut-and-sew, product printing, and embroidery still happen at the Alamo facility, as well as the hammock production. Everything else, like custom engraving, printing, and operations, happens out of the Jackson warehouse. 

"We're able to deliver to our customers within three days of really 90% of America's population," Preston noted. "Half the population, we can deliver next day." 

Being here early, having the relationships, and knowing the lay of the land before the rest of huge corporate investment came here has been a game changer for Yukon. 

“It’s also important as family people, we’re raising families here, the values in this community here is a big draw. You grow those roots, and it makes you want to stay a while. It’s been a very welcoming community since we’ve joined it,” Adam added. 

Yukon operates with a catalog of over 150 pages of product — roughly three times the size of most competitors — and 75% of its orders are custom. That means logos engraved on tumblers, brand graphics printed on coolers, embroidery stitched by West Tennessee hands in Alamo. Product ships to Alaska one day, Costa Rica the next.

When it comes to standing behind its products, Yukon keeps it simple: if something breaks, they fix it. No receipts required, no lengthy processes, no hoops. They intentionally wanted a customer experience that places people first. 

"Those customers that have a problem usually end up being our biggest cheerleaders because they’re taken care of,” Adam said. "When we develop a system, we ask ourselves: how do we make a system that we would want to experience if we were the customer? The lowest friction, minimal questions asked — make the customer happy." 

Part of what keeps Yukon ahead is an almost restless attention to culture — pop, regional, and everything in between. They've worked with Post Malone as he navigated his country era ("advising a guy who's sold 100 million albums on how to do camo right," Preston laughs). They've developed products for Twisted Tea, Lil Peep, and luxury brands looking to translate their identity into drinkware. They developed the world's first glow-in-the-dark tumbler, which sold out at Buc-ee's in two weeks.

“Preston and I both spend our days listening to our customers to understand their needs and what resonates, and taking our product knowledge and capabilities, and trying to find that sweet spot product that’s going to resonate with them. Delivering something that delights them that they’re not even expecting,” Adam said. 

For all its national partnerships and global logistics, Yukon's deepest pride is local. Any local customer is always the best relationship.

"I love orders from Ace Hardware and Buc-ee's," Preston said. "But there's no better order than an order from your neighbor. And the neighbor's always going to get the best price from us.”

“The reason why we’ve enjoyed considerable success is because we’re here in Jackson. We had the community accept us. We were embraced — from employees to business networking. We’re big enough to matter, but we’re small enough to care. This place is unique. It's a blessing."

If you’d like to browse Yukon products for yourself or your business, check out their website at yukon-outfitters.com.