Backpack Startup Gears Up for Growth Phase

Piltdown Outdoor Co. founder and CEO Trey Anson became somewhat of an expert on backpack performance and quality, when he lived out of one for most of 2007 while traveling western America on foot and hitchhiking.

After he returned from his expedition, he searched several years for the perfect pack, and when he couldn’t find it, he learned how to sew and made his own.

“Once I got it dialed in, somebody wanted to buy one from me, and somebody else did, and then a bunch of people did, real fast,” Anson said. “It got out of hand pretty quick.”

Piltdown incorporated in March 2015, but it was not until Anson found the right American manufacturers — a process that took five months — that the operation was fully up-and-running. Its backpacks are now made in Fort Smith and Milwaukee, in addition to the company’s home base in Springdale, which has a staff of five.

To date, Piltdown has sold about 350 backpacks, Anson said.

The backpacks are sold in eight stores in Arkansas and single stores in Missouri and Louisiana.

Anson has plans to grow Piltdown’s presence in those states, then expand to Kansas and Texas … “after that, the rest of the country,” he said. “That’s the plan.”

Anson is currently pitching to investors for a seed funding round, while also focusing on content development surrounding the brand, in order to drive e-commerce.

Experienced e-commerce entrepreneur John James has taken interest in Piltdown. It is one of the companies that he works with through his “venture production studio,” Hayseed Ventures in Fayetteville. 

Anson is also working with local marketing startup Smack.co, led by Sean Womack.