While traveling on her rounds throughout the Rocky Mountain West, Brittany Greer showed some of her customers the recently completed hand-drawn, original Colorado map that Xplorer Maps had created. All she heard after that point was “when will Xplorer Maps be creating a map of our state?”
According to Greer, the vice president of the wholesale representative organization Rocky Mountain Concepts, “consumers love Xplorer Maps because the products serve as memorabilia that capture their journey and experience in a special place,” she said. “Buyers love the great feel of the antique, authentic maps that are hand-drawn.”
Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Concepts and Montana’s Xplorer Maps teamed up late in 2018 to help the Montana company manage its expanding number of accounts and increase its exposure and distribution throughout the country.
Based in Denver but also serving Montana stores for more than three decades, Rocky Mountain Concepts opened its doors 34 years ago when Greer’s parents, Dennis and Leslie, started cruising around national parks in their motor home, she said, “They fell in love with national parks and wanted to work with them. They found their niche, and the business evolved and grew.”
The company specializes in unique products such as wildlife sculpture, pottery, kitchenware, and hand-drawn maps that reflect an appreciation for nature and the outdoors, Greer said, adding that they have sold them in thousands of retail locations across North America. They represent the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, and Utah and have one of the most prominent and highly recognized showrooms in the Denver Merchandise Mart.
Greer particularly enjoys working with partners on the creative process. For example, she said she was excited about being involved with Xplorer Maps during the development of one of the newest maps – Grand Teton National Park - and hopes to collaborate on future projects.
She said that Greg Robitaille, president and co-founder of Xplorer Maps, and his team have been easy to work with.
“Xplorer Maps and Rocky Mountain Concepts both have similar values. We’re both very customer-oriented, low-key, appreciate the outdoors, and value communications and collaboration,” she said. “Greg also does a really good job working with their national park partners to ensure accuracy with illustrative content and layout design and pays close attention to highlighting all the important landmarks of each region featured.”
Robitaille said that the ceiling is high for the future possibilities of working with Rocky Mountain West.
“They have been absolutely amazing to work with, detailed beyond expectations, professionally driven to be the best, tremendous communicators, and truly passionate about the Xplorer Maps’ brand and customers,” Robitaille said. “We couldn’t be happier about our first year together.”
