New Gander Outdoors stores dial back focus on hunting, shooting

By Christen Smith

Gander Outdoors prioritizes fishing, outdoor recreation over its historical focus on hunting and shooting sports. (Photo: Gander Outdoors/Facebook)
Leadership at Gander Outdoors told investors last month the refurbished retailer will prioritize fishing and outdoor recreation over its legacy of hunting and shooting sports products.
The former Gander Mountain chain began reopening across the midwest in December — eight months after Camping World Chief Executive Officer Marcus Lemonis bought the bankrupt retailer’s store leases and branding for $38 million.
“As I’ve said many times, we’re being very calculated and disciplined in how we open stores and how we manage this business,” he said during a Feb. 27 conference call with investors. “We are only interested in operating stores that we believe have a clear path to profitability. We’ve aggressively negotiated rents, diversified the mix of merchandise, added a service department and layered out on a number of new benefits and savings to our Good Sam Club for the Gander Outdoors and Overton’s customers.”
Part of company’s new look, however, features a smaller retail footprint with less of a focus on “the historical Gander business” of firearms, archery and hunting, Lemonis said.
“The historical Gander business is really significantly less than it used to be, because we

Source: Guns.com