Inspiring Conversations with Elena Martinez of Basecamp General Store

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elena Martinez.

Hi Elena, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
BaseCamp was never really part of a grand business plan. It came out of a pretty unexpected chapter in our lives.

Before moving to the mountains, my husband Curtis and I spent about ten years traveling for work. We owned an event staffing and experiential marketing company, and our lives were basically a new city every week and a suitcase that was never completely unpacked. Because our business was mobile, we eventually decided we wanted a getaway where we could slow down between trips.

We started looking all over the country for a fixer. Curtis loves working with his hands, I love design, and somehow we ended up finding the right little house here in the San Bernardino Mountains. We fell in love with the area pretty quickly.

Then COVID happened.

The event industry essentially disappeared overnight, which meant the business we’d spent years building suddenly went very quiet. At first, we assumed it would be temporary. We kept working on our house and waiting for things to return to normal. As the months went by, we started to get a bit of “Cabin Fever” and wondering if maybe this was an opportunity to do something completely different.

During our years traveling, Curtis and I always sought out interesting little independent shops, antique stores and general stores. We had talked for years about how fun it would be to have a place of our own someday. Nothing huge or fancy—just a shop with personality where you could find things you weren’t going to see everywhere else.

Then one day, while we were out looking for supplies for our deck remodel, we drove past an old 1960s gas station in Skyforest with a giant FOR LEASE sign on it. We knew this was the opportunity we had envisioned. That’s how Basecamp came to be.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Opening a retail store during a global pandemic probably wasn’t the traditional way to ease into a new retail small-business.

There were a lot of unknowns in the beginning. We didn’t know whether people would feel comfortable shopping in person or whether the mountain community would embrace what we were trying to create. Ironically, the mountains became a place people were escaping to. People wanted fresh air, space and somewhere that felt a little removed from everything happening.

Since then, the challenges have changed.

Running a business in the mountains means learning to live with a certain amount of unpredictability. For instance, weather matters. In 2023 we experienced a freak California Snow Blizzard that left us with over 8 feet of snow. The community wasn’t prepared for such a storm, a lot of businesses were shut temporarily and some even closed permanently. A snowstorm can completely change your week—for better or worse.

Then in 2024 we encounter the Line Fire. The fire caused closure directly in front of our store for 3 weeks. So yes, there have been challenges over the six years.

There have definitely been difficult days, but then a regular walks through the door, or someone visiting the mountains tells us they come to BaseCamp every time they’re here, and you remember why you started it.

As you know, we’re big fans of Basecamp General Store. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Vintage-Found-Collected Goods

What matters most to you?
The customer experience is very important to us. Coming from a background in hospitality it’s important that the overall vibe of the shop is welcoming to everyone, especially in a world that is automating customer experience. We wanted a place people could come to and meet others within the community. We have been able to achieve this through workshops and monthly pop-up’s.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Basecampskyforest.com
• Instagram: @Basecampskyforest
• Facebook: Basecamp General Store