Extreme Outfitters originally opened in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1997, with a simple premise that the heroes of this country should get great gear – presently from roughly 300 manufacturers that include Blackhawk, Granite Gear, 511 tactical, Bates, Converse and Surefire.
The military veteran owner worked closely with the Special Operations community while on active duty and after entering the civilian world sought to provide a commercial off-the-shelf availability of high quality equipment at a fair and reasonable price in a timely manner to outfit the service member prior to departure on deployment.
In 1999 Extreme Outfitters expanded the operation to Jacksonville, North Carolina, and opened April 1, 2000 to support 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion Marines and sailors, as well as the entire multi-base complex from New River Air Station south of the city to Cherry Point Air Station near Havelock, North Carolina, and all the troops between.
In the decades following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the warming of the Cold War, what was beginning to be a new level of cooperation and understanding came to an abrupt fork in the road in the aftermath following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Extreme Team was already in business in the swirling vortex of public opinion as U.S. and allied leaders sought to redefine the roles and duties of the military and domestic police force, but nobody could have predicted the dizzying array of new products to enable this nation’s heroes and friends to stem the tide of fear and prejudice across the hemisphere and around the globe.
Store manager Marion Plocica has been at the helm of the Jacksonville, North Carolina day-to-day operations for the past six years, making course corrections as necessary and split-second decisions regarding ordering, shipping, stock, sales, accounting and personnel.
“The most important thing is making sure the customer gets the right gear at the best price in the shortest amount of time,” said Plocica, who added, “No challenge is too great.”
As if to emphasize Plocica’s thoughts, in the mid 2000’s the leathernecks opened up their own official Marine Special Operations Command, validating their own need for sustained and advanced training previously often limited to Army Rangers and Navy SEALs.
The effect on testing and procurement was profound. What used to take years to research and develop new equipment now can take weeks or months to field. Gone are most of the catalogs already obsolete before they come off the press, and employees work tirelessly in a world of updating the www.tacticaledge.com website on a frequent basis, to alert customers of the latest products as a full-stocking dealer shipping orders over $99 free to anywhere troops are stationed to help the special operator’s dollars stretch further. Extreme Outfitters associates have been instrumental and key in the development of thousands of products while working with key vendors and manufacturers.
Ironically, regular military service men and woman, police, firefighters and rescue workers find they can benefit from some of the equipment and tactics originally created for and battle-tested by the Special Operations community, so Extreme Outfitters has expanded across the spectrum, and now includes extreme rock-climbing, camping and other outdoors-related activities.
So in Sept 2009, they expanded their Western Boulevard location – increasing by more than 60 percent the size of the original storefront – effectively tripling in size overnight.
“The biggest challenge is educating our customers to help them find the right gear, quality, price and availability,” Plocica said.
It is through this desire to help others that Extreme Outfitters associates take their operation seriously to support:
- Moms4Marines – a group of parents who watch for their patriotic children serving around the globe,
- anysoldier.com – a program where average citizens can purchase gear to send directly to service members who would not normally be able to afford it,
- The Wounded Warrior Project – a group working to honor and empower wounded military service members,
- Hope for the Warriors - a group who hopes to enhance quality of life for U.S. Service Members and their families nationwide who have been adversely affected by injuries or death in the line of duty, and
- by putting together employment opportunities for disabled citizens – some civilians through National Institute for the Blind factories and other disabled veterans working on the Extreme staff.
Extreme Outfitters is a veteran-owned and run small business, whose employees are 50 percent military family members, about 30 percent military veterans – roughly half of them disabled, about 10 percent off-duty active military service members and 10 percent from locally-established families in Eastern North Carolina. Whether associated with the military or not, they all support the troops and the community by reintroducing wages earned back into the local economy.