dewerstone winter open day // october 10th

On October 10th we hosted yet another of our 'open days' to let people see what we do, and to encourage people to come in and enjoy our space. Here's how it went down.

Words: Rich Pearson

Pictures: Simon Potts

As a brand, dewerstone has had a long standing tradition of opening it's doors and letting people in. We've felt from the start that encouraging people to join us on the journey has been so much more productive and enjoyable than just going on the adventure alone, and this last weekend with our winter open day was just another example of bringing our friends - both new and old - into our world and showing them what we do.

On the days running up to the 10th of October we gave our little shop and office a spring clean, bulk bought the milk and tea bags, readied the slacklines and brushed the excess chalk off the climbing wall, and on a warm if not massively sunny day we opened up the shutters and gave everyone a chance to come and see what we were about and how things have changed.

Theres always been three sides to what we do with open events at our own unit, and Saturday was no different. To start with, we do it just so that people can come and have a play on all of the fun stuff we happen to have. With a bouldering wall inside the shop, the majority of our friends and most of our clients can be kept busy for hours, with the more experienced helping out the newer folk. We also happen to share some of our space with The Slackline School who not only rigged up some slackracks outside for people to play on, but also put up the now infamous waterlines outside on the beautiful River Erme, which yours truly even managed to walk fully clothed with phone, keys and wallet still in pockets, just for everyone elses amusement. With the bbq going and the coffee machine flowing, alongside all the other stuff to keep people entertained, we felt we had the fun aspect all wrapped up.

The second reason we have open events is to not only give people a chance to come and have a bit of a party with us, it's to say thank you to those people who have supported us so well by filling up the sale rails and giving people a chance to get kitted our with some new swag at reduced rates, and of course show off some of the new products just in - such as the dewerstone Incus sunglasses, and the new colour ways for the 'breaker' t's and vests. Doing things like this not only helps us in the immediate sense as a business, but gets active people talking about what we're doing and spreading the word. Despite the many talented athletes we support who do an amazing job of repping our brand, we are always reliant on the kind words our friends say about us.

And most importantly, we like showing people how it all works. Like any business dewerstone is like a machine, and showing people what it is that makes the cogs turn and the pistons move is as important as showing them the end result of the hard work. On Saturday our screen printing guru Phil spent several hours showing people exactly how to print their own t-shirts, explaining the process behind what he does every day to get dewerstone stock out of the door, and encouraging people to try it all for themselves. Alongside that, Rory and Ben spent a significant part of their time talking to newcomers and explaining about the business they run and how its growing and changing with the world around it. Letting people in has always been a far more productive way for us to do business, and we don't intend to stop anytime soon.

And so the day played on, with screen printing demos, impromptu slackline sessions (on land and over water as more of the Falmouth Slackline Society showed up), hard lines were sent on the wall and people generally just chilled and enjoyed the vibe.

It's hard to think its been only just over a year that Ben and Rory stepped into the unit at Ermebridge Works for the first time, with everything covered in dust and having not seen light for some fair time. Now theres two more of us and the only dust in the air is from chalk on the wall, and we couldn't be more proud of the space we call ours (and yours of course!)

So keep an eye on our social media for more info, and we'll let you know when the next party is.