Spyderco store experience

[JestersHK]

Sorry as a first time poster this will be a bit long winded, but hopefully the higher ups and Sal get to see and read this. I'm not some bleeding heart fanboy, but bear with me here.

A little back history. I carried cheap but working knives my whole life since I was 10 years old and my grandpa gave me my first buck folder that I promptly lost in the rivers of Missouri.

I fell in love with a cheap gas station knife that had a thumb hole opener on it back around 1997 or so. It eventually broke and I discovered Gerber EZ outs. To me they were perfect, cheap, made in the US still and I bought 15 of them to use and abuse back on the early 2000s.

I lost a bunch, broke a bunch, gave the TSA a bunch that I forgot about, and when I was down to 2 left a few years ago I started looking for a replacement.

I bought some Byrds at a knife shop in Branson MO on vacation. One for me, and one as a first knife for my oldest daughter who was turning 13. I loved the price point and the incredibly sharp edges and that they took a beating. The thumb hole was pretty close to my old gerbers to boot.

2 years of hard use and rock steady performance and I decided to upgrade, so my daughter got a native and I got a Manix 2 during the great online war known as the factory seconds sale.

I wore out my fingers but finally got both in my cart and ordered. Somehow my order got mixed up in the chaos of that sale and that gave me my first experience with Spyderco customer service. The gentleman I spoke to was helpful and kind and we even talked CO trout fishing. Forgive my memory as I forget his name but he was in charge apparently of working through the factory seconds orders. He also told me to stop by the shop on my next visit to Colorado, and fast forward to yesterday that's just what I did.

I was heading down from Estes with my entire family on our way back from a four thousand mile road trip of the west out to Yellowstone and back. This was day 10 of our 10 day journey and Spyderco was our last stop as weary travelers. I debated skipping it, but my wife encouraged me to go so I swung down to Golden on our way to I70.

I'm so glad I did. I cannot express the store experience we received. We were greeted by Jacob as soon as we walked in. He immediately asked how we were, offered us up a bottle water and asked how he could help us, and after spying a pocket clip asked if we had knives to be sharpened.

My daughter and I handed over our knives while we all checked out the amazing displays and memorabilia. The pride on display from our military and first responders is very awe inspiring. The 911 display is one to be seen. There's even a knife in a fish tank which my younger one loved.

I snapped back over to Jacob who was now at the sharpening station working on my beat up Manix.
He talked us through the whole process and I ended up buying a sharp maker kit after he showed me how easy it was. Jacob and I discussed steels and knives and he had an incredible depth of product knowledge, but he talked to me not at me, and helped explain any questions I had. This led me to picking out a knife for my middle daughter and I also grabbed a byrd for my little one for when she's ready.

I grabbed a mule sheath as I've been trying to find one, and by now I had a bag full of goodies already.
Somehow we started talking EDC knives and I asked Jacob what he was carrying currently. His PITS limited run was sleek and awesome and although my Manix is a workhorse I knew I'd need a PITS after he showed me the slidelock and how it worked. My wife gave me the look, like do you really want this one, then she made my mind up for me and told Jacob to box me one up.

I wouldn't say I'm a true knife collector, although one day I'll find that HK Q series, but my knives live in the woods and the rivers of my outdoor focused life. They are tools for me, but I will say I don't think I've ever had a better tool shopping experience in a good long time if ever.

I hope Sal can see this and firstly I Thank you for what you do for our Military and first responders. Thank you also for keeping that American pride in your brand, please don't ever change that.

Secondly I wanted to say thank you again to Jacob. Your knowledge, demeanor, and friendliness transpired into a great ending of our vacation. My mother in law even commented how she's never seen customer service like that anywhere in her life.

You spent a ton of time with us showing us knives and explaining the different displays, not to mention putting a great edge back on my trusty workhorse.

I realize it's a part of your job, but wanted to make sure your customer service skills were properly acknowledged.

Thank you to all of the Spyderco team. You all have built something really special and it shows both in your products and your people.

A truly thankful fan for life.
D.J.

[sal]

Hi DJ,

Welcome to our forum and thanx for taking the time to share your experience in our retail outlet store.

Thanx for making us a stop in your travels. I'm glad you and fam enjoyed your time. We are an American manufacturing company that tries our best to conduct business in a honest fair and proper manner.

sal

[Wartstein]

Welcome to the forum, D.J.!

Very nice first post and good read!
I am not an American, but one of the many things that led to me at this point pretty much exclusively owning and using Spyderco folders is the way the company is run and conducts itself.

I' d love to visit the Spyderco "home" store myself one day, but Colorado is not exactly close to where I live...

From what I took from your text you might like this short Spyderco-vid about the D'Allara / WTC project
https://youtu.be/K8Op2vvixIw

[harpo1]

Welcome to the forum, D.J.!

Very nice first post and good read!
I am not an American, but one of the many things that led to me at this point pretty much exclusively owning and using Spyderco folders is the way the company is run and conducts itself.

I' d love to visit the Spyderco "home" store myself one day, but Colorado is not exactly close to where I live...

From what I took from your text you might like this short Spyderco-vid about the D'Allara / WTC project
https://youtu.be/K8Op2vvixIw

Incredibly project, company and man. Hat's off to you Sal for all you do for the men and women that chose Public Service as a way of life. I know from personal experience that's appreciated more than you'll ever know.

[Airlsee]

Great first post, and welcome to the forum! Now it's time to discover all the nifty Spydies while knowing that thought and devotion is behind each design!

Warning, they are absolutely addictive, and congrats for caving on the PITS and sharpmaker, they are great places to start and will serve you very well!

[nerdlock]

Welcome to the forum, D.J.!

Very nice first post and good read!
I am not an American, but one of the many things that led to me at this point pretty much exclusively owning and using Spyderco folders is the way the company is run and conducts itself.

I' d love to visit the Spyderco "home" store myself one day, but Colorado is not exactly close to where I live...

From what I took from your text you might like this short Spyderco-vid about the D'Allara / WTC project
https://youtu.be/K8Op2vvixIw

You and me both, Gernot. Someday, I hope to get there to Golden... someday.

Good story, OP and welcome to the forum.

[JestersHK]

Thank you Sal, and thank you all for the welcome. I've lurked here for a little bit, but look forward to being part of the community. Figured out how to post pics too :)

[sal]

Hi Harpo,

Welcome to our forum and thanx much for the kind words.

JesterHK,

Welcome to our forum.

Hope you guys enjoy your time here.

sal

[Doc Dan]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing the good story.

Hang out here more often and get to know some of the incredible people, here.

[Manixguy@1994]

Great story and thank for sharing. Welcome to the Forum, enjoy ! MG2

[JRinFL]

Welcome aboard!

Thanks for sharing the positive experience at SFO. Having been in customer facing jobs all my life, feed back like this all too rare and very nice to receive.

Welcome also the PITS and Manix 2 fan clubs. Both are just so good!

[yablanowitz]

I wouldn't say I'm a true knife collector, although one day I'll find that HK Q series
D.J.

P.M. me your mailing address and one day will come sooner than you thought.

[cabfrank]

I wouldn't say I'm a true knife collector, although one day I'll find that HK Q series
D.J.

P.M. me your mailing address and one day will come sooner than you thought.
yablanowitz, amazing, and almost brought a tear to my eye. Okay, I'm lying, it wasn't almost. Wow.

[On Edge]

P.M. me your mailing address and one day will come sooner than you thought.

Nicely done.

[Stuart Ackerman]

One day I shall arrive at the Place Where Dreams Come True... :)

[JestersHK]

I reached out to yablanowitz and he truly humbled me with his offer and generosity. I will be hopefully be able to repay or trade him something back in kindness.

It's been a short stay so far, but def good people here. Thanks again for the warm welcomes

[Rinzler]

I had the luxury of living down the street from spyderco. I was able to visit whenever the need arose or someone wanted me to check on something for them.

I’ll echo others in that the employees in the store are exceptionally service minded and ever so willing to help and listen. Walking in the doors to spyderco means that you will have a great experience, unfortunately that experience is lost on so many other retailers today. If you have the opportunity to visit Denver I suggest you do what you can to get over to spyderco even if you don’t plan on buying anything.

There should be a spyderco cafe out front with some outdoor seating under the trees or even picnic tables in the shade for the weary traveler to eat their lunch. That’d be fun…