Justin Macedo was 23 when he purchased the outdoor retail business he had joined the day after graduating from Farmington High School.
He started at Uncle Sam’s Safari Outfitters in May 2018 and worked there through college, spending a summer as a fly-fishing guide in Alaska and three summers as a backpacking guide in Colorado. Macedo earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus on small business management from the University of Arkansas in fall 2022.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some managers left Uncle Sam’s, and Macedo took on more responsibilities. As a college senior, he completed a consulting project about Uncle Sam’s, having worked there for four years and gained an understanding of the business, especially after accepting the additional responsibilities.
“Well, this will be an easy A,” he joked.
During the project, Macedo asked the owner about his five-year plan, and it wasn’t to be working there. After the project, Macedo’s professor suggested he ask whether the owner would sell the business.
Macedo soon learned that a deal to sell the business had just fallen through, and the owner wanted to sell it. That was in April 2022. Macedo jumped at the opportunity, becoming the owner of Uncle Sam’s in November 2022.
Since then, he’s operated and grown the business, building relationships with customers throughout Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith region. He’s the sole full-time employee. Uncle Sam’s has six part-time employees.
“Everything of my quasi-adult life has been revolving around the outdoors, whether in the Uncle Sam’s context of me working here since I was 18 … landscaping, guiding fishing and backpacking, and anything that I do in my free time is typically outdoors,” Macedo said. “There’s something really cool about local gear shops.”
The top-selling items change seasonally, but socks and footwear are popular year-round, followed by men’s apparel. Top brands include Darn Tough, Outdoor Research and Salomon. Uncle Sam’s also sells military surplus and recently started selling items online. Most of its business comes from the store at 1490 N. College Ave. at Evelyn Hills shopping center.
Macedo leads a Sunday school class at New Heights Church, helps with father-son campouts and supports the Mayfly Project. He enjoys spending time outdoors, including fly fishing, deer and bird hunting, camping and floating on area rivers.
