SBA program helps vet open combat gear store - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

SBA program helps vet open combat gear store

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — After two Iraq tours, Sgt. Colin Burgos left the Marine Corps to begin his new life with an eye on opening his own business.

It was a struggle, developing a business plan only to get rejected by banks for loans at every turn. But in October, armed with a 65-page business plan, help arrived in the form of a Patriot Express loan.

Patriot Express is a relatively new program offered for combat veterans by the Small Business Administration.

For Burgos, who served with Camp Pendleton-based 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, it was what he needed. He made a down payment for the $249,750 fixed-rate loan with his own earmarked savings and some seed money from his family.

“I think any grunt can be a business owner with this program,” he said. “I was adamant about this; this company has got to exist.”

On Dec. 16, he opened the doors to his dream: Combat Ready USA.

Today, Burgos’ store is a popular stop for infantry guys from nearby Camp Pendleton to buy their equipment and gear. It’s the first military gear shop in coastal San Clemente, and a competitor to two military gear stores in Oceanside.

The 1,250-square-foot store occupies a spot in a small shopping center, close to Interstate 5, that includes a dry cleaner and barber, taco, sandwich and smoke shops.

Inside, black walls are lined with packs, water hydration systems, harnesses and body armor vests. Racks hold magazine pouches, holsters, tactical rigs, slings and other accessories, such as eye and hearing protection.

“It’s kind of like a candy store,” said former Sgt. Travis Box, the director of customer service and a former infantryman with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. Box and Burgos are a two-man operation.

The inventory is growing each day as they link with new vendors, including former or retired Marines who’ve dabbled in their own small businesses, selling items such as personalized patches, coins and plaques.

Standing watch on non-stop duty is Lance Cpl. Crusa, the name Burgos bestowed on a 6-foot-tall mannequin — an eBay find for $100, stand included — that’s decked out in desert digital cammies and tactical gear.

Burgos got the idea for the store while working sales after he separated from the Marine Corps. Like most Marines, he often dropped hundreds of dollars on tactical gear, often on higher-end products than the Corps issued, or sometimes replacing torn or lost items.

Base exchanges selling toilet paper and kid’s clothes don’t always have full inventories of tactical gear, he said, and the few stores locally that offered military equipment didn’t always have the right gear, best choices or good prices.

Burgos also realized one thing: While the city of Oceanside, south of Camp Pendleton, is home to two or three retail shops that sell military equipment, there were none in San Clemente, north of the base and closest to the camps that house the infantry and artillery regiments and the School of Infantry. And few places sell every item an infantryman — or even light-armored crewman or tanker — might need, especially when they’re deploying overseas.

“We want to target the grunts,” Burgos said. “I want to have every piece of gear that Marines are issued. A lot of times, Marines have to figure out where to get it.”

Burgos and Box fill several notebooks with customers’ special requests and unique requirements, as well as suggestions for items not offered or not developed by some of the vendors. Ideas come from customers at the store and buyers scanning the company’s Web site, http://www.combatreadyproducts.com.

“It’s personality-driven, veteran-influenced,” Burgos said.

Customer service is a major part of the store, and Box and Burgos aim to greet everyone who steps inside, sometimes gingerly eyeing them to gauge their needs.

Burgos is working on plans for a grand opening in April. Already, he’s considering expanding the business, perhaps opening a satellite store in Hawaii, where one of his retiring friends plans to settle.

That’s a huge leap from the days last year when he wasn’t sure it would ever happen after bank lenders repeatedly told him, “No.”

But Burgos stayed on his target, and a repeat visit with an SBA counselor led him to the Patriot Express loan, which he applied for with the help of a U.S. Bank loan officer in San Diego. The loan was finalized 2½ weeks later, and Burgos got down on his knees — he painted the floor gray, with white and black lines — to transform the storefront into his tactical gear shop.

“I’m just hoping to establish the brand,” he said. With the location, Web site and word of mouth, “we get a lot of momentum with the guys from the base.”

Related reading:

Read more information on Patriot Express loans

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