There likely has never been a store quite like Southernmost Wildlife Products in the long retailing history of Elizabeth Street in downtown Brownsville.
Photographs of yesteryear on Brownsville’s historic main street show the classic department stores of Sears and JCPenney. Down Elizabeth from those mainstays are blocks of locally-owned men’s and women’s clothing stores, with the five-and-dime stores nearby. Those days on Elizabeth have vanished. The downtown of today does show a resurgence with historic buildings undergoing renovations, in part, with donations from the foundation of SpaceX’s Elon Musk.
In the present mix is Southernmost, a fishing, outdoor and sporting goods store that’s owned by three Brownsville firefighters who are utilizing a bond forged from working together while on duty to open and run a business. Downtown Brownsville would seem to be an unlikely location for fishing and hunting enthusiasts. Walk into the shop, however, and it seems to fit.
“You don’t usually think about going downtown for fishing and hunting gear,” said Roger McArdle, a firefighter of 15 years who is also a U.S. Army veteran, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. “It is unique for us to be here, but we do bring something to this area that it didn’t have before.”
The building where Southernmost is located has a firefighter’s connection. The fishing and hunting shop is in a firefighter’s union building. Firefighters use the back half of it for union meetings. Southernmost uses the front end of the building facing Elizabeth. McArdle and his two fellow firefighters and business owners – Esteban Atkinson and Dorian Hopperstad – opened the shop last June after years of considering such a venture.
“We’re all like minded,” McArdle said. “We’ve known each for over a decade. We’ve been through a lot of stuff together.”
Getting Started
It was Atkinson who had the initial idea of opening an outdoors and sporting good store.
A lifelong outdoorsman, he had been tinkering with a device that hunters could use while out in the field. It’s a product that’s still a work in progress. He envisioned perfecting it at some point, a goal he still has. He also thought if that product would be for sale, why not at his shop?
“It morphed from if we’re going to sell that to we can sell other things, too,” Atkinson said.
McArdle was his first partner. The union building came up as an option for a business location. Atkinson and McArdle took their fellow firefighters up on their offer. Their business was formally incorporated in April 2021. Hopperstad came in later as a third partner.
Each one of the firefighters was looking for something outside of firefighting given the inherent risks of their jobs. They have suffered serious injuries during the rigors of putting out fires and facing other emergency situations.
“I had gone through injuries on duty,” said Atkinson, a firefighter for 16 years. “I started thinking about my future. What could I do as a fallback? I needed to have something to do after retirement.”
Hopperstad in becoming an enthusiastic third partner saw the benefits of starting a fishing and hunting shop during a pandemic when the outdoor oriented are looking for safe activities.
“People still have their hobbies and need something to do,” said Hopperstad, a firefighter for over two decades. “Being outdoors, hunting and fishing, is something that can be done comfortably and safely.”
At their shop, the three firefighters alternate shifts between doing the same at their regular jobs.
“We’re the owners, janitors, do-it-all workers here,” Hopperstad said.
Going Local
One determination made early is that Southernmost would emphasize local products.
Many of the fishing lures and rods are Rio Grande Valley made. There are products from Harlingen companies RGV Lures and A.M. Fishing. There are also products from Battle Born Rodz of Weslaco, which is owned by a veteran.
“Why go with big name people when we have local talent?” Atkinson said. “We focus as much as we can on local brands. We give them an opportunity to get their names out there, we know they’ll return the favor.”
The local connections continue in the links Southernmost has built with local fishing clubs and area fishing charter businesses. On social media, Southernmost and the clubs promote each other, with the Brownsville shop congratulating outdoors men and women on landing big catches with photos posted to confirm the feats. The shop is a bright and cheerful place with the firefighters-turned-businessmen greeting both newcomers to the outdoors sporting life and those who are fishing and hunting pros.
The early doubts of running and owning a business have washed away. The three firefighters have found an outlet away from the pressures of being on duty. They are happily engaging in running a business they love and serving those who share their passions and love for the great outdoors.
“All the profits we’ve made so far, we’re rolling it back into our inventory,” Hopperstad said of expanding their offerings to apparel and accessories. “We’re getting out there, sharing our name, being part of what’s going on downtown, and supporting each other like we’ve always done.”